Young offenders from across North East Lincolnshire have been on a mission to cheer up local children by painting a mural at a Children’s Contact Centre.

As part of their community payback, the teenage offenders have painted a jungled-themed mural at the rear of a child contact centre, where children in care are taken to meet their parents. Its location cannot be revealed.

Lynne Macpherson, team leader, said: We were asked by Children and Family Seervices to plan and design a mural for the Children’s Contact centre.

“This building is used by young children and the service wanted to make the building as friendly and cheerful as possible. The young offenders researched and created drawings of different ideas and the service chose to go with the jungle theme.

“We then transferred the design onto a brick wall about 15 young people took part in the painting the mural to a very high standard.

“It took the young people seven sessions, totalling 28 hours to complete the mural.

“The young people took real pride in their work and were pleased that their efforts would go to improve the experience for young, vulnerable children. It also gave them the opportunity to think about how their behaviour contributes to crime and deprivation and how they can make their area a better place to live.”

While I was out a few days ago cycling from a meeting on the Nunsthorpe estate to a meeting at the Grimsby Town Hall; I passed a new car park and naturally I could not resist taking a photograph of this sign on Wellowgate, Grimsby – “Robin Hood Parking”.

It made me wonder if they will “rob the rich and distribute the car parking profits to poor” – perhaps we’ll all be in for a windfall in the near future.

Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, Greg Hulholland has been leading a cross party group of MPs in a campaign for the introduction of High Speed Rail to Yorkshire. Greg has reacted to today’s announcement that Network Rail’s plans to introduce a high speed rail network to the United Kingdom do not include a direct link between Yorkshire and London.

The plans are for a West Coast mainline between London and Glasgow.

Commenting Greg said: “If the government choose to introduce high speed rail exclusively on the west coast it will be yet again another stunning example of the way in which they continue to refuse to invest in transport for Yorkshire and the Humber.

“Time and again we find ourselves bottom of the national league tables in terms of transport spending. Now we have the news that cities such as Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle will not benefit from the new high speed rail line.

“Cities in Yorkshire and the Humber will not benefit from the obvious economic benefits of high speed rail if the Government does not rethink these plans. We must keep campaigning and continue to make the strong economic case for High Speed Rail on the east side of the country.

“I do not know why Network Rail has ignored the plan by high speed north to build a line along side the M1 which was estimated to cost £15 billion, a fraction of the cost of this west coast line.”

On Saturday I visited Blundell Park before the start the “big match”; between Town and Aldershot – well every match is important for Town at the moment – and they need to start winning.

The reason for my visit was to take part in the Family Intervention Project celebration, which was taking place at Blundell Park. I even turned down offer of a free meal and afternoon with Councillor Fenty the Town Chairman - I thought my time was better spent at home.

Fortunately for me I did not have to sit through the torture of another painful defeat.

Today the Grimsby Telegraph reported that families who have tackled behaviour issues have been rewarded for their hard work.

Parents and youngsters who took part in a council-run course aimed at dealing with family conflicts were treated to a day out at Grimsby Town.

They were the guests of honour at the home match against Aldershot on Saturday and enjoyed a day of VIP treatment after completing the seven-session Strengthening Families course.

It is run by North East Lincolnshire Council’s family intervention project in conjunction with SportLincs and Humberside Police and aims to increase self- esteem.

Andrea Grigg, 41, of Kew Road, Cleethorpes, who attended the course with her 13-year-old son, Samuel, said: “The day out really made the kids who had taken part feel good about themselves.

“Samuel had been finding it difficult after he lost his dad, Robert, in January. The course gave you different ideas on how to react to children when you are having difficulties and I would really recommend it.”

Humberside Police’s Insp Terry Ward said: “Improving self-esteem can have an encouraging effect on young people and their families.

“If people feel good about themselves, they can invest their energy in creating a positive future rather than one linked to negative traits.

“This also means the community as a whole will reap the benefits. They should all be very proud of their achievements.”

Learn more: for more information on the courses, which include parent and carer groups, parent and young person groups, and one-to-one parenting support, call the parenting practitioners Sue Mason-Bartlett or Julie Swinburne on (01472) 326259.

People who go into hospital are far more likely to go hungry in an NHS hospital than in HMS prison service, researchers from Bournemouth

Experts from the University have been studying the food offered to inmates and across the NHS.

They believe hospital patients face barriers in getting good nutrition, including not receiving assistance with eating and nobody monitoring if they are well fed.

Professor John Edwards said around 40 per cent of patients going into hospital were already malnourished but this situation did not tend to improve while there.

”If you are in prison then the diet you get is extremely good in terms of nutritional content,” he went on.

”The food that is provided is actually better than most civilians have.

”There’s a focus on carbohydrates, then there’s the way they prepare the food, it’s very healthy.

”They don’t add salt and there’s relatively little frying of food - if you have a burger then it goes in the oven.”

His colleague, Dr Heather Hartwell, said fruit and vegetables were given out in hospitals ”but this doesn’t mean it’s eaten”.

Patients suffered due to the fact they may have no appetite as a result of their illness but they also might not get help with eating and drinking.

Meals are likely to be at a set time, when patients may be off having tests or treatment.

”Hospital cutbacks are also seen in areas like catering budgets, rather that elsewhere,” she said.

”Hospital food services also need to be less fragmented and more joined up.”

Dr Hartwell said that once food was prepared, it generally hangs around waiting for porters to transport it to patients.

Then it may be left on wards for a long time until it goes cold.

”Ward staff also don’t actually know how much patients are eating because it is domestics who clear the trays away,” she said.

The pair’s research has shown that temperature and texture are among the most important factors in patient satisfaction with food.

They believe that lack of appetite due to a medical problem is probably the main reason for hospital under-nutrition but they said hospitals should not be ”complacent” and improvements can be made.

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Good quality food for patients improves their health and their overall experience of services.

“The majority of patients are satisfied with the food they receive in hospitals, and we are working to improve services further.

“Clinicians have a duty to ensure patients get the appropriate treatment for any condition, including malnutrition.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: “This study highlights the experience of too many patients in NHS hospitals.

“While there is excellent care in many places, there are a lot of examples of what is in effect neglect of vulnerable people.

“It’s incredible that so many hospitals are failing to serve healthy meals.

“If prisons can serve good food then so can hospitals.”

Could your child be eligible for free school meals?

Families feeling the pinch of the recession may be able to relieve some of their financial burdens by accessing free school dinners.

According to annual figures published by the Department for Children and Family Services, the number of children across England that are eligible for free school meals has risen for the first time in four years.

In North East Lincolnshire, 17.6 per cent of primary pupils and 15.8 per cent of secondary pupils are now eligible – although many people fail to claim for them.

Now is the perfect time to look into your child’s eligibility for this service, as when the kids go back to school this month, NELC will be putting hot school meals back on the menu at all primary schools in the area.

The new meal service aims to provide children with the opportunity to enjoy a hot, appetising, value for money school meal. All dishes will meet the Government’s food and nutrient-based standards, meaning not only are they tasty, but healthy too.

To apply, contact either the free school meals team or your child’s school.

You can call (01472) 323732 to speak to the team or e-mail to freeschoolmeals@nelincs.gov.uk  and they will post an application to you.

Alternatively, forms are available to download from www.nelincs.gov.uk

Residents are being encouraged to get involved in many clubs, groups and activities within the East Marsh that specifically laid on with the aim of cutting down anti-social behaviour and improve community spirit. 

One local hotspot is Grant Thorold Library, which regularly hosts events to keep people coming through the doors and when the new library is complete next year it is hoped that these events will expand. 

Lendy Ottley, of Rutland Street, can often be found at the library with her children Shaun Robinson (15) and Jamie and Amy Ottley both 10. 

While she said she was concerned that the area had been branded the worst in England, she said there were plenty of activities for people in the area, saying there being “nothing to do” was no excuse for getting involved in crime and anti-social behaviour. 

She said: “The crime does worry me… However, there are thing for people to do, if they choose to. My three kids love coming to the library, as there is always something to do and it is important that they enjoy education, which they can here.” 

Her comments were echoed by Sue wink, North East Lincolnshire Council’s young people and children’s services development officer, who said she believes that although the area is deprived. It is not as bad as the statistics make out. 

She said: “The area is one of the most deprived in the country, so obviously there are problems associated with it, but we do many things to help engage the community here. 

“At the library for example, we try to get children, teenagers and parents alike to come along and get involved in any number of events they have here – both after school and during the school holidays. 

“We have events for people of all ages and encourage people to come here and re-evaluate their lives, to see how they benefit from what is on offer here and at the numerous other centres across the East Marsh.” 

Councillor Steve Beasant added: “There are so many people in ward working tirelessly for the good of this community, and to make it better place were people can live safe and comfortable in their surroundings – we are bringing back the pride into our local community. 

“There is the Freeman Street Resource Centre, the Children’s Centre on Victor Street, the Grimsby Neighbourhood Centre, Shalom Youth Club, the library, many other voluntary groups, organisations, and individuals who all deserve medals they are working day in and day out for the good of the East Marsh.”  

The Owen Project is coming to North East Lincolnshire; the project will hold an Open Day on Wednesday 9 September and will start at 11am – finishing at 2pm. The venue for the Open Day is the St Aidans Church and Community Centre on Grimsby Road, Cleethorpes. 

OWEN is funded by Yorkshire Forward as part of the MORE Programme (Making Opportunities Realistic for Everyone). 

The OWEN project (Older Workers Employment Network) specialises in supporting people over the age of 45 back into work. 

You will have access to our FREE inhouse training courses designed to help you back into employment and update your skills: 

Ø       CV writing and application forms

Ø       Interview skills

Ø       Jobsearch

Ø       Confidence building

Ø       Communication skills

Ø       Health and safety

Ø       Customer service

Ø       Motivation techniques 

Our website is also designed to give you access to various resources that can assist you in your search to employment or advice about issues regarding your current job, as well as giving you information on our inductions, training courses and events in the local area. 

Why not take a look at what support is available to you? Perhaps you want to create a CV or have a job interview coming up? We can help you recognise your transferable skills so you can sell yourself successfully in an interview.  

If you would like an informal chat to a member of the OWEN team you can contact us directly:

01482 887670

owen.project@eastriding.gov.uk 

Your experiences, knowledge, ideas and enthusiasm to challenge ageism are key elements to achieving positive changes.

Our arteries are under a fat attack – not the arteries in our bodies – but the network of sewers that is essential to our public health and well being.

Stinking and revolting, used fats, oils and grease (FOG) is steadily flowing into sewers, clogging them up and posing a potential threat of pollution to beaches and water courses.

In Grimsby and Cleethorpes the local council and businesses have said “enough is enough” and they have joined forces with Anglian Water to become champion crusaders to beat FOG.

A campaign has been launched in both towns. Chippies, takeaways, restaurants, guest houses and hotels are being encouraged to sign up to regulated, regular and free schemes for the collection of used FOG to be recycled and converted into biodiesel.

Collette Nicholls, of Anglian Water, said: “Statistics show that the production of cooking oil and fats has trebled since the 1960s. We must not under estimate the very real dilemma that irresponsible disposal of fats, oils and grease, poses.

“Not only does it attract vermin and possibly lead to sewage flooding, which is potentially damaging to the environment, our network of sewers becomes less able to cope, particularly in areas such as Grimsby and Cleethorpes where there is a high density of catering establishments.”

Councillor Steve Beasant, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection at North East Lincolnshire District, said: “This is an excellent objective to reduce fatty waste clogging up our commercial arteries and reduce the potential for harm to the environment.”

Phil Loukaides, Project Control and Development Director of Evergreen Energy UK and Unique Oils, the company, which is running one of the free collection and recycling schemes, said: “It’s a great step that Anglian Water has taken to raise awareness about the nuisance caused by fats, oils and grease in the sewer. It can be put to far better use recycled into biodiesel and help to protect the planet at the same time.”

Anglian Water estimates that at any one time there is 10,000 tonnes of fat in its network of sewers, enough to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools. If converted this would make enough biodiesel to fuel 8,000 family cars for a year.Three out of four sewerage blockages are due to the build up of FOG. Tackling sewerage blockages costs Anglian Water £5 million a year.

The average British commuter is now spending as much time travelling to work as they do on their holidays, according to research carried out by the Liberal Democrats.

For the country’s 25 million commuters, travelling to and from work takes up the equivalent of 169.3 hours a year, or just under 23 working days.

Most employees are entitled to around 26 days annual holiday, but research shows that most fail to take at least two of them.

A recent government-commissioned survey found that commuters would pay more than £5 a day if it could save them an hour’s commute.

Londoners travel the furthest to get to work, commuting an average of 1,370 miles a year.

The figures were revealed by Jo Swinson, the Liberal Democrat Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics, who called for more investment in public transport.

Jo Swinson said: “Commuting is often an incredibly frustrating experience, whether you are on a crowded train platform staring at your watch, crammed on to a bus or tube train or stuck in a traffic jam.

“Even moderate commutes make people less happy – something the Government’s own research shows.

“It is incredible to think we spend as much time going to and from work as we do going on holiday.

“The Government should concentrate on easing the plight of commuters by investing in faster trains, fewer crowded carriages and more bus schemes.”

Figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed that the number of people admitted into hospitals in Yorkshire for obesity has more than tripled.

Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West and Shadow Health Spokesperson, Greg Mulholland has commented: “The Government’s failure to tackle the shocking levels of adult and childhood obesity is deeply depressing.

“The situation in Yorkshire and the Humber is particularly bad; it is obvious that the local health trust is not being given the freedom by the Government to deal with the issue.

“This is an issue that needs to be tackled locally by a health trust familiar with the local population; endless ad-hoc policy from centralised Government in London is obviously ineffective at tackling the problem in Yorkshire.”

The Sunday Express as today launched a campaign to Clamp Down Crusade against the rogue Cowboy Clampers.

Fuelled by angry motorists, we are supporting councils across Britain as they wage a war against “modern-day Dick Turpins” legally extorting millions of pounds from motorists.

The Government have failed to outlaw wheel-clamping on private land and now local authorities have taken matters into their own hands. Drivers routinely pay in excess of £500 to retrieve their clamped and towed-away cars with no way to challenge the fines except through expensive battles in a county court.

In Windsor, town hall chiefs are considering slapping antisocial behaviour orders on dodgy operators they accuse of “highway robbery”.

Roads boss Councillor Colin Rayner said: “These clamping firms are operating a legalised extortion racket. Their staff aggressively demand hundreds of pounds from unsuspecting tourists.

“Clamping in private car parks is a plague in Windsor and it’s all very damaging to our reputation. The Government must act now so that we can rid our streets of these people.”

Councils in Hull, Scarborough, Trafford in Manchester and Portsmouth are also supporting moves for a ban.

The AA last week revealed clamping has reached epidemic levels with nearly £1billion being taken a year. The damning report accused clampers of using “bad and immoral” practices that are “frightening and often bordering on criminality” with women motorists in particular feeling menaced and intimidated. The AA’s public affairs head Paul Watters said: “This is legalised mugging and totally immoral. Self-regulation is not working as there are too many firms and individuals operating in this often shady area.

“The public have absolutely no protection if a private parking firm acts unfairly; it is a civil matter and no one is interested in helping.”

MPs have been calling on the Government to follow Scotland’s lead in banning clamping on private land. It has been considered “extortion and theft” there since a 1992 court ruling. Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: “Clamping is legalised extortion and needs to be stopped. It’s time private clampers were run out of town.”

  Norman Baker also said, recently: “It is absolutely wrong that there should be a financial incentive for private companies to clamp vehicles. Clamping must be properly regulated and should be carried out by publicly accountable bodies such as the police or local authorities.

  “I is simply not right that a private company, who may have an incentive to place more clamps in order to make more money, should be able to demand large sums from motoris who are entirely innocent and who have no right of independent appeal. Many constituents, as well as others around the country, have been victims of these unfair practices for far too long.

“It is hugely disappointing that government has failed to act on this outrageous practice.”

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg is asking people who work in the public sector where they think taxpayers’ money can be saved.

Nick Clegg on Friday visited a hospital in Sheffield, as well as launching a website where people who work in the public sector can submit suggestions on how to cut waste.

The ‘Ask the People in the Know’ project recognises that serious savings will have to be made to bring public finances under control and seeks the expertise of those working in the public sector on how to cut out waste while protecting services.

Nick Clegg said: “Hard-working nurses and teachers tell me how frustrated they are by the money which is being wasted on needless paperwork, administration and computer systems that don’t work.

“David Cameron and Gordon Brown are having a sterile debate about the size of the total Whitehall budget. But they’re asking the wrong question: we first need to find out if money is being spent on the right things.

“It can’t be right that billions of pounds are being spent on NHS computer systems which don’t work, yet basic help for people with serious mental health conditions is still lacking because of a shortage of money.

“The people who are best placed to tell us where money is not being well spent are the teachers, nurses, social workers and other public servants who work so hard day and night on our behalf.

“Politicians should stop talking over the heads of public servants. We need to listen to the people in the know on how we can better run public services, making sure that every penny of taxpayers’ money is well spent. That’s what ‘Asking People In The Know’ is all about.”

To find out more about this campaign, please visit this website.  

‘Vulnerable in patient’ or VIP cards have been launched in North East Lincolnshire to enable people with learning disabilities to carry their important medical information with them.  

People with learning disabilities will be able to record their personal details on the card, such as problems taking medication, allergies, how they show pain, their reaction to needles, etc. If they have to go into hospital, particularly in an emergency or a medical appointment, their VIP card will give doctors, nurses, dentists and other health workers the information needed to give them the right support. 

There are 16 boxes of information on the document which folds down to the size of a credit card, making it easy to carry. There is also an explanatory leaflet, which accompanies the card, to help service users, carers, friends or family to fill it in. 

Anne Walker, lead nurse, Community Learning Disability Team at the Care Trust Plus, said: “It is hoped that VIP cards will be of benefit to people with a learning disability and the health services looking after them. If someone carries a VIP card, it identifies that they are vulnerable and that they need extra time, help and support. It also gives health staff vital information to enable them to understand the person and give them the right help and support they need.”    

Evidence shows that people with learning disabilities often have poorer health than the rest of the population and that they do not always get the right care and support from health services. VIP cards are just one of a number of initiatives North East Lincolnshire Care Trust Plus is providing to try to make sure that health services meet the needs of people with disabilities.

During September, the health and wellbeing co-ordinators in the Community Learning Disability Team will be making sure that everyone who wants a VIP card has one.

To apply for a VIP card, please contact the Community Learning Disability Team, William Molson Centre, Kent Street, Grimsby, telephone (01472) 629321.

I have reported on this website on a number of occasions about the old Art College, which is a large derelict building situated in Eleanor Street on the perimeter of the East Marsh Ward. Today, the Grimsby Telegraph has run a story about the building which a GRADE two listed building and has been derelict for about 15 years.

The Telegraph report that: “After an intensive and prolonged investigation, councillors have their fingers crossed that the future of the former art college on Eleanor Street will soon be in their hands.”

Councillor Steve Beasant (Lib Dem, East Marsh) said the building has a “checkered” history and there were significant problems tracking down the owner.

He said: “We are now closer than we have ever been in taking over the property.

“People think it has just been left there all these years and the council are not doing anything about it, but we are.”

As I previously reported the property, was originally the Wintringham Higher Grade School, and later became known as the Grimsby Technical School and latterly it was known as the Art College.

Councillor Beasant said: “This is a massive grot-spot with hundreds of rooms.

“If it was in London, it would already have been turned into flats and they would be fully occupied.

“It would be great to see it fully restored to its former glory.

“I think we could save the front of the building not the back. Hopefully we could get the grade-two listing removed for the back because it is unsafe, and then rebuild it.

“It would be good for the area to turn it into social housing or a similar development.

“We are hoping to come up with a plan of action within the next 12 months.

“We have put aside money into our capital programme; however we will need to work with external funders in order to regenerate to whole area.

“We currently keep residents up to date at monthly meetings of East Marsh Involve because it was originally raised as an issue by the young people of the area.”He also warned people not to go near the building, as there have been incidents in the past where people have been injured from climbing into it.

He said: “My worry is if people climb in it and there is a fire, all the windows are boarded up and there are so many rooms, I don’t know how the fire-fighters would get them out.“

John Waite, environmental enforcement manager, said: “There have been unlawful occupants in the building in the past but the issue has now been sorted.

“Council and environmental officers are also checking the area on a daily basis and a survey will be carried out on the property by ourselves and the Environmental Agency.”

  Revellers are being urged to enjoy themselves, BUT stay safe this weekend.

  Humberside Police has launched a campaign reminding partygoers of drinking too much.

  Adverts will be run on screens in pubs and clubs across North East Lincolnshire as a warning about not overindulging during the Bank Holiday weekend.

  Police say that there has been an increase in alcohol-related incidents during August over the past two years.

  North East Lincolnshire’s licensing officer, Ken Stone, said: “Most people plan to go out and have good time with friends. However, drinking irresponsibly can result in you getting into any number of situations, some of which may leave you injured, facing a criminal offence, or even worse.

“I work very closely with both licencees at local venues and the door staff operators to make North East Lincolnshire a safe and enjoyable area to enjoy a drink.

“This is not something we can do on our own, however, and I would ask those going out in the area – particularly over the bank holiday weekend – to take some responsibility for their own safety.

“I want people to know their own limits when drinking alcohol on an empty stomach, as this greatly reduces your tolerance to alcohol. Please take note of some of the suggestions and enjoy your nights out.”

As well as adverts in pubs and clubs, images from the campaign – which is titled Who’s Going Out Tonight? - will be featured on posters, beer mats and smoking bins.

The film advert – which will also be shown on television – shows two drinkers who are enjoying some drinks but become volatile and violent when they have had too much alcohol.

Police have also launched a website, www.onetoomany.org.uk, which shows the advert and offers advice.

Councillor Steve Beasant, portfolio holder for community safety and public protection, said: “This campaign shows in stark and convincing terms just what dangers can arise from excessive drinking.

“By working in conjunction with the police’s licensing team and the council’s trading standards and licensing team, the partnership will be educating people that, with care, they can enjoy a bank holiday to remember for all the right reasons.”

Yesterday, I received a letter from Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland MP and Liberal Democrat Councillor and Chairman of the West Yorkshire Integrated Passenger Authority, Ryk Downes asking me for support for the ‘Fast Track to Yorkshire Campaign’ – a campaign I’m pleased say I fully support.  

I personally welcome the to introduce a high speed rail network as an environmentally alternative to domestic air travel and car journeys like Greg and Ryk – I would much rather travel on rail, it’s by far safer, and more comfortable. 

However, I believe the decision is biased and flawed and as pointed out in the letter that I received: “It is unacceptable that there is no place for Yorkshire in the Government’s planes, the introduction of a high speed rail line on the east of the country would bring huge economic benefits to the whole region.”

And, don’t forget North East Lincolnshire would gain massively from those benefits; if the West Coast option went ahead we would lose out. 

On 25 April this year Greg Mulholland wrote in the Yorkshire Post: “High-speed rail delivers a benefit to cost ratio of around 2:1 and the potential benefits to Yorkshire will total billions of pounds.

”That equates to the combined economies of Leeds and Sheffield, the two economic “drivers” of the region, which in itself surely justifies a direct link to London.

”But the cost of missing out would also be huge. A high-speed line on the other side of the country, without one to Yorkshire, would take away huge amounts of investment as people and companies relocated close to the new express route. We cannot let this happen.

”We have long had a sense of not getting a fair deal for transport spending in Yorkshire. Figures for 2007-8 show that transport spending was a lowly £234 per head in Yorkshire compared with a UK average of £326 and a whopping £641 in London.

”Furthermore, vast amounts of taxpayers’ money continue to be ploughed into the West Coast main line. In 2007-8, Virgin received a subsidy of £162m, or 3.8p per passenger kilometre. By contrast, National Express East Coast paid £32m in net terms as part of its franchise agreement, in effect a negative subsidy, equivalent to 2.4p per passenger kilometre.

”No one is saying that people and businesses in the North-West don’t deserve good transport links, but so do people in this region. The simple fact is that we are not getting a fair deal in Yorkshire and that must not be extended to high-speed rail.” 

I urge everyone to support Greg Mulholland in his campaign.

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers private sector workers will need to contribute 37% of their salary into their pension to match their retirement income paid to public sector workers on similar earnings.

According to PwC, private sector workers in defined contribution schemes typically receive employer contributions of around 6pc of salary.

For civil servants, contributing only 1.5pc of their salary to their final salary pension schemes, the implied employer contribution rate could be as high as 35.5pc of salary, the accountant said.

PwC compared the financial fortunes of a public sector employee who remains in civil service employment from age twenty-one to retirement at age sixty with someone born in the same year, who spends his whole working life in the private sector. The public sector worker would receive a pension of £28,900 compared to just £11,600 for the private sector worker.

PwC’s figures reinforce the sense of injustice of the “pensions apartheid” dividing public sector workers with well-funded final-salary pensions and private-sector staff which are having to rely on the less generous defined contribution pension schemes more.

Defined contribution schemes (DC) are fundamentally different from final salary schemes. With a DC scheme, the pension you get is dependent on how much you and your employer put into the fund, the performance of stock markets and annuity rates.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable said: “This report raises further concerns about the longer-term affordability of public sector pensions, particularly for top paid public sector workers. The rising cost of public sector pensions is an area which will need to be tackled as the budget deficit continues to rise.

“While pension rights that have already been accrued must of course be honoured, going forward there needs to be an honest and open debate about the long-term affordability of public sector pensions in their current form.”

Former Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, has had his peerage quietly confirmed - in the middle of the Parliamentary recess. 

He will soon become ‘Baron Martin of Springburn, of Port Dundas in the City of Glasgow’ after the honour was conferred by the Queen last week.

Mr Martin was the first Speaker of the House of Commons to be forced to resign in more than 300 years.

It is established practice for former speakers to be elevated to the Lords, but there had been calls for Mr Martin to be denied a peerage after his flawed response to the MPs’ expenses scandal.

After losing the support of the House of Commons following repeated attempts to block the publication of MPs’ full allowances, he resigned in May.

The announcement that he would soon be joining them on the Lords’ red benches sparked anger among other peers last night.

  Liberal Democrat Peer and Treasury Spokesperson, Lord Oakeshott said: “Mr Martin’s period as Speaker diminished both the authority of the position and the credibility of the House of Commons. It is wrong that he should pick up a peerage automatically in the Lords after he failed as Speaker.”

  Springburn was the name of Mr Martin’s Glasgow North East constituency before boundary reorganisation in 2005, while Port Dundas is the site of a large whisky distillery in the city.

  No by-election will be held in the constituency until the autumn. Lord Oakeshott said: “He’s chosen Springburn as his title but the people of Springburn deserve to have a representative in Parliament.

“This is a disgraceful delay and the people deserve a chance to elect a new MP now.”

The Queen granted approval despite a warning from sleaze watchdogs that elevating Mr Martin would damage the reputation of the House of Lords. In a letter to Gordon Brown, the House of Lords Appointments Commission said Mr Martin’s personal expenses claims were open to question.

But Mr Brown, who uses his powers of patronage to recommend peers to the Queen, overrode their concerns.

As an ex-Speaker, 63-year-old Mr Martin is entitled to an annual pension of around £38,000. When his MP’s pension kicks in at 65, the former sheet metal worker will be receiving around £80,000 from tax-payer-funded pension pots worth £1.4million. 

As a peer he would also qualify for £174 for each night he spends in London on Lords’ business, adding up to a possible £25,000 a year, and he may claim £3,000 in office costs.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Huhne has asked the Government to exempt local pubs, clubs and village halls from the need for a licence to play live music.

Chris says: “This licensing requirement is just bureaucracy gone mad. Why should anyone need Government permission to pick up a guitar and sing?”

Chris has co-sponsored a cross-party motion lending support to local pubs and venues that want to play live music.

Early Day Motion (EDM) 1948 calls on the Government to end restrictions that mean small local pubs and village halls have to apply for a licence to play live music.

Calling on the Government to scrap this unnecessary red tape, Chris Huhne said: “Pubs, village halls, local schools and hospitals should all be able to enjoy the benefits of staging live music without having to jump through yet more Whitehall hoops.

“With pubs closing at a record rate across Hampshire during the recession, the Government should think again before making life even harder for these local businesses.”

  The EDM is so far only signed by small number of MPs; as well as Chris Huhne there are a number of Liberal Democrat MPs including Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sports Secretary, Don Foster.

  Don Foster, said: “When the licensing laws changed in 2003 we were promised an explosion of live music, but in reality many small scale events have been stiffled by bureaucracy.”

  “It’s time that common sense prevailed, and small venues, hospitals and schools were allowed to host live music without having to cope with an expensive, bureaucratic nightmare.”

“Far too many questions remain unanswered about meetings between Brown, Mandelson and the Libyans,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey. 

Commenting on claims by Colonel Gaddafi’s son that the prisoner transfer agreement negotiated between Libya and the UK was aimed at Megrahi and linked to talks on trade and oil, Edward Daveysaid: “This puts yet more pressure on Gordon Brown to come clean about his Government’s involvement in the Megrahi debacle.

“Far too many questions remain unanswered about meetings between Brown, Mandelson and the Libyans. Tony Blair’s dealings are clearly still casting a long shadow, and must also be explained in full.

“If Gordon Brown’s conscience is clear, he should have no problem with making public all the details concerning these murky dealings.”

  “With concerns about swine flu already putting the NHS under pressure, we must ensure that we do not run short of vital drugs in the UK,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb. 

  Commenting on reports in the Health Service Journal that NHS organisations have been reprimanded by the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer for plans to export drugs despite reports of shortages, Norman Lamb said:

  “Pharmacists have been warning for some time that medicine shortages are having a negative impact on patient care. It is shocking and disgraceful that some NHS managers are said to be considering plans to export medicine, rather than addressing this serious problem.

“With concerns about swine flu already putting the NHS under pressure, we must ensure that we do not run short of vital drugs in the UK.
 
“There is a strong case for naming and shaming those trusts involved and taking appropriate disciplinary action.”

Students across North East Lincolnshire have been celebrating their successes in this year’s GCSE and A-level results.

Preliminary results indicate that proportion of young people in North East Lincolnshire schools succeeding at GCSE has continued to grow, far exceeding the expected rates of progress.

This year, some 70 per cent of students achieved five or more passes at A* to C, a fantastic improvement from 2005 when the figure was just 42 per cent.

And the number of students achieving five such passes, including both English and mathematics, rose this year to 46 per cent, up from last year’s figure of 39.7 per cent.

Tollbar Business and Enterprise College has once again produced an outstanding set of achievements, with 99.7 per cent of students gaining five or more higher grades. Of these, 86 per cent also achieved this level with English and maths included.

Healing and Humberston schools have also continued to demonstrate high levels of performance at GCSE with more than 60 per cent of students achieving five or more A* to C grades including English and maths. In addition, most schools in North East Lincolnshire have shown significant improvement in achieving five passes at A* to C.

Results for A-level students were also impressive. At Franklin College, some 636 students achieved a collective 1,995 passes. This was an overall pass rate of 99 per cent, with 68 per cent achieving grades A to C.

Tollbar celebrated a 99 per cent pass rate, and at the Grimsby Institute, 14 subject areas saw a 100 per cent pass rate.

Roger Edwardson, the deputy director for learning, said: “In the past five years the authority, by supporting local teachers and schools, has worked hard to improve the outcomes for children and young people within our borough.

“I’m proud of how far we’ve come and I’m certain we will see these improvements continue in coming years. I’d like to wish our students the best of luck for all of their future endeavours. Congratulations to you all.”

As the school curriculum broadens, a growing number of young people in North East Lincolnshire are now choosing to follow a vocational course that is equivalent to GCSE level and this contributes to the significant improvement to achieve an additional 11 per cent on last year.

Councillor Tony McCabe, Portfolio Holder for Children and Family Services, said: “Congratulations to everyone who has received their results.

“I am extremely proud of all the young people in the borough.” 

New projections published by the Government today show that the prison population in England and Wales could reach more than 93,000 by 2015. This could mean an extra cost to the taxpayer of over £380m. 

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, Paul Holmes said: “These projections highlight Labour’s incompetent handling of our prisons.
 
“The prison population has already grown by over 20,000 in the last twelve years. The prospect of it rising to over 90,000 is a shocking indictment of an approach which has failed to curb astronomical re-offending rates.
 
“These projections would see the taxpayer footing over £380m a year more without any measures to stop the revolving door of Britain’s prison system.
 
“If the Government is serious about tackling crime and cutting our sky high re-offending rates they must focus on what works. This means moving prisoners with addiction and mental health problems into appropriate accommodation and investing in alternatives to custody.”

Late last night I wrote the “East Marsh Community is pulling together and fighting back against crime”; the article was in response to some mischief making by the Tories – they had released some outdated information that showed East Marsh was the UK’s number one area in UK for crime.

However a key weapon according to the Grimsby Telegraph in the community’s battle against crime has been information of the East Marsh Involve Community Neighbourhood Forum.

The Neighbourhood Forum is made up of local residents, North East Lincolnshire Council officers, ward councillors, Humberside Police, Registered Social Landlords and other agencies who are all pulling together to make East Marsh great place to live – they are aiming to bring back a real community spirit and pride into the local area.

East Marsh Involve which is Championed by Councillors Steve Beasant, Jon-Paul Howarth, and Tony McCabe was formed nearly two years back and is already making in-roads to cut crime and anti-social behaviour, create a stronger community and to give East Marsh a sense of identity.

Among there greatest achievements so far has been the empowerment of residents to take control of the future of their own neighbourhood.

Now, not only do they have a say on how their area is policed, but they can also decide how cash allocated to their ward councillors is spent.

At the AGM on Tuesday, residents said the areas top priorities on their hit lists were:

Ø     Reducing anti-social behaviour further (which as reduced dramatically over the last 12 months)

Ø     Improving the appearance of derelict properties and alleyways

Ø     Stamping out crime

Ø     Reducing alcohol and drug related problems

One resident who lives in Tunnard Street, said: “East Marsh Involve has helped, but it is not as simple as just fixing things overnight.

“It takes time, but we have started off on the right foot and we have to keep working with the police, youth groups and the council to make the area a better place.”

Councillor Beasant said: “The residents and community groups, partners and NELC – such as those here at East Marsh Involve meetings – are all working tirelessly to make sure we are making this community a better place to live and over the last the crime statistics have continued to drop in the East Marsh.“One of the biggest problems is due to behaviour – not so much taking place from pubs, but now stemming from households due to the cheap availability of supermarket alcohol.

“However the vast majority of young people in the East Marsh you can engage with, I talk with them on a daily basis, and although they hang around on corners with their hoods up, it does not mean they are being anti social and committing offences. And don’t forget many of us, of my generation use to stand around on street corners with our duffle coat on, and at times playing football in the streets.”

The Government is set to cut up to 20% of the income of some of the country’s poorest people in April, consultation documents highlighted by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

Government plans to alter the Local Housing Allowance could leave low-income families £780 worse off. At the moment, families receiving Local Housing Allowance (LHA) are able to keep up to £15 a week if they choose a home with a rent below the Local Housing Allowance maximum for their area. Ministers now propose removing this £15 a week payment with immediate effect in April.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather said: “£15 a week may be small change to ministers, but for families struggling to make ends meet it is incredibly important.

“The Government has a track record in secretly raising taxes for the poorest, most vulnerable people in our society. Now they are planning to abruptly take away a vital source of their income.

“This is a scheme that probably won’t save any money, but will make an enormous difference to the families suddenly losing 20% of their income. 

“Gordon Brown has once again abandoned the people who need the most help.”

  The Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg is consulting members of the public people who work with taxpayers’ money – they can now submit suggestions on how to cut waste in the public sector (see the previous article to submit suggestions).

  The Liberal Democrats say its ‘Ask the People in the Know project recognises that serious savings will have to be made to bring public finances under control and seeks the expertise of those working in the public sector on how to cut out waste while protecting services.

  Nick Clegg said: “Hardworking nurses and teachers tell me how frustrated they are by the money which is still wasted on needless paperwork, administration and computer systems that don’t work.

“David Cameron and Gordon Brown are having a sterile debate about the size of the total Whitehall budget. But they’re asking the wrong question: we first need to find out if money is being spent on the right things.

“The people who are best placed to tell us where money is not being well spent are the teachers, nurses, social workers and other public servants who work so hard day and night to serve the public.”

Nick Clegg has also told The Guardian that he wants hospitals to be forced to reduce the costs of operations to the lowest tariff in the country.

Under the Liberal Democrat plan, hospital trusts would be forced to charge the same rate for operations as the cheapest and most efficient hospitals in the country.

A Fresh Start for Saving Taxpayer’s Money

Do you work in the public sector? Budgets are going to be tight for years, if not decades. There isn’t going to be any extra money - in fact there may be less money in some departments across the public sector.

We need to cut out all inefficiencies in order to protect front-line services. This Government has a staggering record on waste. We need to stop money from being thrown away – that means talking to the people who know best about how public services are run: public servants.Your ideas for efficiency savings will make sure that all the money there is goes on providing quality services.

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Simply enter your idea for how you would save money in your department using the form, an estimate of the saving (if possible) and the location this idea would impact.

Grimsby is “ready to go” following initial setbacks and plans have been announced by the Grimsby Institute to commence work on a £25-million university centre – work will now commence in January 2010.

The initial £140-million plans to build a complex on Nuns’ Corner were halted when the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) pulled their share of funding back in July.

However, the go-ahead has been given for the £25-million centre to be built.

The new building will house lecture theatres, research facilities, clinical skills rooms, laboratories for science and sports physiology, computer suites, studios for television and radio as well as a full licensed bar and food outlets.

Gill Alton, vice principal in charge of higher education, said it would be an “iconic” building.

She added: “There will be a strong message going out with the size it’s going to be.

“The new building will take up to 3,500 students, which is 1,300 more than our current intake.

“We already have a hundred higher education courses on offer, and we will be adding to those based on the local skill requirements.”

The Grimsby Institute will use £6-million from the Higher Education Funding Council, £5-million from Yorkshire Forward, and will contribute £2-million from their own funds to complete the build.

The Institute will also raise £12-million through bank loans.

That – and the right to clear away the buildings – had to be given approval by the LSC, the same body who pulled money from the larger project.

But the green light has now been given to build on the site of the Institute’s Bargate gym centre, which will be relocated to the other side of the campus.

Principal Daniel Khan OBE said: “The building will be inspirational for the area.

“It will bring together many of the resources we use for higher education, which are spread throughout the Institute buildings.” 

“It is time that the state pension was raised to a decent level,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb.

Commenting on today’s [Friday 28 August] report from the IFS which reveals higher energy prices between 2004 and 2007 coincided with substantially higher fuel spending and lower fuel consumption among pensioners, Steve Webb said: “Pensioners have been hit by soaring fuel bills which have taken a growing chunk out of their meagre state pensions.  

“Once again we see the woeful inadequacy of the basic state pension, one of the worst in Europe.  

“Forcing pensioners to rely on complex and poorly understood means-tested benefits is simply not the answer to pensioner poverty. It is time that the state pension was raised to a decent level. As a first step, the Government should restore the earnings link at once.”

In today’s Times it claims Gordon Brown is facing a Labour revolt over plans to cut the benefits of the poorest families by up to £15 a week.

The move is expected provoke widespread anger amongst Labour backbenchers, and was last compared to debacle over the abolition of the 10p of income tax. At the moment 300,000 people on low incomes are allowed to keep up to £780 a year of their housing allowance if they find accommodation that costs less than the maximum benefit. The implementation date is due to be next April, a month before a General Election; which is likely be crucial to any wavering MPs as they will not want to alienate of their traditional Labour voter.

The Treasury says that the policy costs too much and that the ability to pocket any surplus should be scrapped from April 1. The change would take place three months after the rate of VAT is increased to 17.5 per cent.

Crisis, the housing charity, said that it could mean that people on £65-a-week jobseeker’s allowance losing 20 per cent of their income.

Frank Field, the former Labour welfare minister who led the revolt over the abolition of the 10p rate of income tax, said that he would try to stop the measure being pushed through Parliament.

The reform was introduced to give tenants greater control over their housing arrangements by paying the rent themselves, and the option to trade quality for extra cash.

The Government believes that abolishing the policy will save £160 million, but Labour MPs point out that the removal of competition means that landlords will raise rents to the allowance maximum. Landlords have been pressing for the change because they want rent to go directly to them.

  Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather who  discovered the change, said: “£15 a week may be small change to ministers, but for families struggling to make ends meet it is incredibly important. Gordon Brown has once again abandoned the people who need the most help.”

The change was announced in the small print of the Budget. The Government said that 600,000 people received the housing allowance, which replaced the old housing benefit in April 2007, and it has estimated that 300,000 claim a surplus.

Mr Field said that it was a retrograde step that destroyed the whole purpose of the allowance. “At one stroke, they get rid of a reform aimed at getting flexibility into a fairly inflexible market by giving people incentives to shop around. The timing for this could have been decided in Conservative headquarters.”

He plans to table amendments opposing the new policy.

Leslie Morphy, of Crisis, said: “This proposal is ill considered and potentially counterproductive. It beggars belief that the Government intends to introduce this when, by its own admission, it has no idea what the impact on claimants will be. We urge the Government to reconsider.”

A spokeswoman for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “Local housing allowance is aimed at providing the people who need it most with decent accommodation. This small change will not affect our customers’ ability to pay their rent and further support is available to those on a low income to help with other expenses.”

This Tuesday the Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling claimed that parts of Britain are becoming like the American crime haven of Baltimore, as portrayed in “The Wire”.

On the same day, I received an email from the Andy Edgeworth a reporter at Grimsby Telegraph asking me to comment on some statistics apparently compiled by the Conservative Party; interestingly when I look at the figures there was nothing really newsworthy about them – in some respects they were “recycled statistics”.

In some respects, I feared the article would paint East Marsh in a bad light; however unfortunately for the Tories the Telegraph have published a story about a community “pulling together and fighting back against crime”.

We were all aware of the situation on the East Marsh and we have taken “positive action”. The Telegraph today revealed that East Marsh residents are fighting back, after the area was branded the worst for crime and deprivation in England by the Tories.

The statistics – compiled as part of the Crime And The Poor Report for England – were released in Parliament this week by the Conservative party, who described the area as being “at the bottom of the pile.”

They revealed that the area centred around Albion Street, is the worst for crime – including burglary, theft, criminal damage and violence – out of more than 32,000 areas in the country.

East Marsh is also close to the top of the national league table for deprivation, which is calculated using factors such as income, employment and education.

Other factors measured are health deprivation and disability, skills and training, barriers to housing and services and living environment.

However, the community is determined not to go out without a fight.

Among the action being taken is:

Ø     A community led action group has been formed.

Ø     A whole host of activities and projects for people of all ages have been developed.

Ø     The area has become the focus of a North East Lincolnshire Council led regeneration project.

Ø     Residents have been invited to take the lead in deciding how the area is policed.

Ø     Those living in the area can decide how cash allocated to the ward is spent.

Tukes has expanded its ever growing portfolio of services with the launch of a car wash and valet service.  

Located at The Gardens, on the site of the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby, the new service will offer staff and visitors to the hospital a useful service whilst at the same time providing practical experience to Tukes members.  

Since its inception in 2003, the CTP’s Tukes initiative has given hundreds of people suffering from mental health problems the opportunity to get back into work and learn new skills by providing training and work placements. Over the past six years, it has expanded to include a café and conference facility in Brighowgate, Grimsby, a café at Weelsby View Medical Centre, maintenance/property services, horticulture, buffet delivery and catering contracts and a contract to provide the cleaning services for all mental health facilities at the hospital.  

Tukes is always looking at new services to give its members new opportunities and training. This project aims to do just that by offering a hands-on environment to acquire practical skills which will in turn increase self–esteem and confidence.  

Kevin Bond, director of mental health, said: “Tukes is an important part of mental health services offered locally. By offering this training we are providing people with a unique opportunity to gain all sorts of skills needed for the local labour market. This initiative equips our members with the skills, knowledge and confidence to secure future employment.”  

The car wash is open to all from Monday to Friday with prices starting from as little as £6 for a full body wash. For more information or to book your car in for a clean, please contact Bob on 07762471892.

Pregnant women in North East Lincolnshire are to be offered earlier and more accurate screening for Down’s syndrome with the implementation of a new screening test. From September 1, Northern Lincolnshire and Goole NHS Foundation Trust will be offering the new combined test at the Diana Princess of Wales Hospital.   

The test combines the result of the nuchal translucency measurement (the amount of fluid lying under the skin at the back of the baby’s neck which, if women agree to screening, is taken at the time of the pregnancy dating scan) and the result of a blood test taken from the mother to work out an individual risk figure.  

Phyllis Cole, antenatal/newborn screening co-ordinator at North East Lincolnshire CTP, said: “All women are offered screening for Down’s syndrome in pregnancy regardless of their age. Screening tests are optional and both the women and their partners are supported and given information to help them make decisions regarding the test. Women are also provided with the nationally produced ‘Screening Tests for You & Your Baby’ leaflet to promote informed decision making around all screening options during their pregnancy and for their newborn baby. 

“The introduction of the combined test for all pregnant women in North East Lincolnshire means they are now offered an earlier and more accurate screening test in line with the Department of Health recommendations. It is performed between 11 and 14 weeks gestation and women are advised to make contact with the midwife or their GP surgery as soon as their pregnancy is confirmed to ensure they can access this earlier screening test.”

The current screening test for Down’s syndrome, which is offered at a later stage in pregnancy, will continue to be available for women who do not meet the criteria for the earlier test. Plans are in progress to offer the early pregnancy combined screening test to women at Scunthorpe General Hospital later in the year.

Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg has met with Pakistan’s President, Asif Ali Zardari, in the run up to the party’s Autumn conference. 

The President was keen to meet with Nick Clegg during a private visit he is making to the UK. Discussions were held on the important role Pakistan plays in foreign policy, the upcoming British General Election and the contribution the Pakistani community makes in the UK.

Nick Clegg was joined by the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Manchester Gorton Qassim Afzal, who helped to arrange the meeting.

Commenting, Nick Clegg said: “This meeting was important as the Liberal Democrats run councils in urban areas of Britain which have a large and vibrant Pakistani community.

“The President and I spent time discussing how Pakistanis can continue to fully integrate in the UK and starve any extremist views that might take hold.

“It is vital that we support Pakistan in the fight against terrorism and the Taliban and continue to provide assistance to the refugees in the Swat Valley.”

Commenting, PPC for Manchester Gorton, Qassim Afzal said: “It is essential to continue to build bridges between the UK and Pakistan and this meeting is a positive move in developing this.

“As the candidate for Manchester Gorton I’m very proud to represent the Liberal Democrats as the truest home for equality and diversity for all.”

The young Grimsby actor Tommy Turgoose who was brought up on the East Marsh is reviving the role that made him famous as hit film This Is England is being turned into a TV drama.

Acclaimed director Shane Meadows is to make a four-part sequel to the film.

The award-winning movie followed the experiences of 12-year-old Shaun, played by Turgoose, who falls in with a gang of skinheads in the summer of 1983.

The new drama, We Were Faces, picks up their lives four years later.

Channel 4 commissioned the new show as part of a £20-million revamp of the channel’s drama output following the decision to axe Big Brother.

Tommy, who won a British Independent Film Award for his performance in the film, returns to play Shaun as he leaves school and begins to make his way in the world.

Banks could face a multibillion-pound tax to cut down on profits and bonuses if the government accepts proposals by Lord Turner, chairman of the Financial Services Authority. However, the plans have been branded as unworkable by the Liberal Democrats.

Saying that many of the City’s activities were “socially useless”, Turner said such a tax would be “a nice sensible revenue source for funding global public goods”. Calling the City “swollen … beyond a socially reasonable size”, the FSA head told Prospect magazine: “The really fundamental question is whether the overall level of financial services pay is a consequence of the swollen financial sector which has resulted from oversimplistic financial deregulation. This is not a question that any of the politicians have focused on but I think it’s an important and legitimate issue of public concern.”

He went on: “If you want to stop excessive pay in a swollen financial sector you have to reduce the size of that sector or apply special taxes to its pre-remuneration profit. Higher capital requirements against trading activities will be our most powerful tool to eliminate excessive activity and profits. And if increased capital requirements are insufficient I am happy to consider taxes on financial transactions – Tobin Taxes.”

The Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg agreed that some banks should be broken up, he wasn’t convinced the tax idea would work.

“We over-relied on the City of London for too long and it became too big, too unstable and a lot of what the bankers were doing was of little social value to the rest of the UK” Nick Clegg told the BBC.  

He also said there were real questions marks about the “workability” of a UK-only bank tax, given that most banks operated across national borders and in many countries.  

“It has been debated for many years and it has a lot of practical problems.”  

The Liberal Democrats have called for some banks to be broken up, separating their High Street and trading operations, and for a ban on executive bonuses at state-owned firms.  

Liberal Democrat Peer and Treasury Spokesperson, Lord Oakeshott said: he agreed with Turner’s analysis that the City had grown too big, but his remedies were flawed. 

“A Tobin tax is interesting but is unworkable without international agreement, which could take years and probably will never happen,” said Lord Oakeshott.

However, ex welfare minister Frank Field seemed to warm to the suggestion. “It looks like Adair Turner has fired the starting gun on thinking more seriously about the City and what it is for and what kind of pay people should expect,” he said. “When the City has largely made money by moving money around and not by making anything, it is clear the pay is out of kilter.”

  Figures have revealed the number of drug users dying after taking a cocaine overdose has hit a record high.

  There were 235 deaths linked to cocaine abuse in England and Wales last year - an increase of 20%, according to official statistics.

  The number of deaths linked to all illegal drugs in 2008 was also up to an eight-year high, with an 8% rise to 1,738 overdose deaths.

  Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb described the figures as “horrifying”.

  Norman Lamb said: “The toll of damage from drugs is immense and the cost to the NHS is enormous. The Government’s punitive policies and heavy-handed rhetoric on drugs are failing.

“Ministers must make sure that schools and public services work together to make sure that the message gets out that drugs kill.

“Ministers have been very good at talking tough when it comes to drugs, but this isn’t working. They must urgently re-think their strategy before even more lives are lost.”

The two main political parties must not be allowed to maintain the status quo, argues Nick Clegg in today’s edition of the Daily Telegraph

The new political season is beginning. Spring and early summer were defined by the expenses scandal, but what will the autumn be like? Will demand for change continue or will the political establishment succeed in sweeping it under the carpet?

If the British people have their way, expenses will still be a big issue. I’ve been travelling the country this week and it’s still on everyone’s minds. Tonight I’m holding one of my regular “town hall” meetings in St Albans, one of the constituencies affected by the scandal, and I have no doubt that when I look out at the sea of hands of people wanting to ask a question, many will be about expenses. That’s why I’m determined to keep the issue on the political agenda. We can’t let this scandal fade away: it must have consequences for the way our political system works.

In the spring I set out a100-day plan for radical change: giving people the right to sack their MP, getting big money out of politics, and abolishing the notion of a safe seat. But the Conservatives and Labour refused to contemplate that sort of upheaval. We cannot let them get away with this blatant attempt to maintain the status quo. Today, in St Albans, I’ll be putting forward my ideas for political change to make sure the kind of corruption The Daily Telegraph exposed is never again given fertile ground in which to grow.

Of course, we must adopt new, tight expenses rules as soon as they’re published by Sir Christopher Kelly’s independent committee. I’m writing to him to strengthen my recommendation that, in the future, MPs should not be allowed to buy property with taxpayers’ money. Many MPs have rightly used the existing allowance to buy a second property because they need to work in two places at once. But a minority have discredited the system by using this allowance for a wholly different purpose, flipping from one property to the next as if they were spivvy property speculators. We should adopt the Scottish system where only rent is allowed – and, as I say in my letter to Sir Christopher – this should be introduced for all newly elected MPs, with transitional arrangements for the rest.

That will help stamp out some of the biggest expense abuses. But we need to make sure that MPs are held to account for any wrongdoing. That hasn’t been the case so far, with so many who exploited the rules allowed to stand down in their own time with a tax-free redundancy package. Gordon Brown and David Cameron pledged their support for my plan to give people the right to sack their MP if it is proved they have done something seriously wrong. I’m going to hold them to this pledge this autumn by tabling a Bill in Parliament to do just that and asking them to support it.

In the longer term, though, we need to recognise that any political system that gives hundreds of MPs jobs for life, no questions asked, will always risk being abused. Frankly, there are far too many MPs, and far too many of them can do what they like because they’re in a safe seat. They know that they could put a blue or red rosette on the back end of a donkey and they’d still win because they only need to gain a minority of the votes in their area. There’s one simple way to abolish safe seats and slash the number of MPs at the same time: a change in our electoral system. You can design an electoral system in many ways – and I have a preference for the Irish-style Single Transferable Vote – but it’s clear that the “Alternative Vote Plus” system recommended by Roy Jenkins to Tony Blair back in 1998 could easily operate with 150 fewer MPs than our current system, and every single one of those elected would have to prove their worth to their constituents.

Finally, we have to tackle the influence of big money in British politics. All parties have had their problems with donors. We must stop the culture of big donors altogether if we are to prevent British politics being hollowed out by money, as in America. As long as Labour and the Conservatives protect their trade union and offshore paymasters, big money will continue to warp British politics. Even now, the arms race is beginning as parties try to stuff their coffers with money that will make next year’s election a competition of advertising budgets instead of a competition of ideas. Now is the time for swift action: a strict cap so that no one can give more than £25,000 to a party and everyone who donates has to pay their British taxes in full.

We cannot let change be limited only to the symptoms of sleaze. Unless we tackle the root causes, it will just shift from expenses to something else. The only way to clean up politics is to change it from top to toe. The old parties don’t want to do that because the present set-up gives them exclusive access to money and power, but people have the chance to make it happen, if they make it clear they won’t stand for a whitewash. Now is the time for everyone who was appalled by the expenses scandal to stamp their feet for real change.

The Leader of Liberal Democrats, Nick Clegg

  More than a million children have been convicted of a criminal offence and another million cautioned since Labour came to power, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. 

  The figures, contained in answer to a Parliamentary Question, show that: 

 Ø       1,033,454 children aged between 10 and 17 have been convicted of a criminal offence since 1997. This includes almost 30,000 10 to 12 year olds.

Ø       The number of 10 to 12 year olds convicted rose by 87.2% between 1997 and 2007. Among 13 to 15 year olds, it rose by 54.6%.

Ø       1,172,599 children aged between 10 and 17 were cautioned for a criminal offence under Labour.

Ø       In the same period, 2,251,798 young adults (aged 18 to 21) were convicted and 577,424 were cautioned.

The Liberal Democrats propose a new approach to youth justice, tackling potential offenders before they enter the criminal justice system. Community Justice Panels should be established to draw up Positive Behaviour Orders (PBOs), which require minor offenders to agree on a course of action to pay back the community they have wronged.

The party is also committed to putting 10,000 extra police officers on the beat by scrapping the Government’s national ID card scheme. More officers will enable higher visibility policing at gun and knife crime hot spots and provide improved capability for intelligence-led stop and search.

The Liberal Democrats aim to engage young people and provide activities that will divert them from crime. The party will create a Youth Volunteer Force for every area, with young people working with local authorities on projects that serve the community.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: “These shocking figures show how Labour has criminalised a generation of our children.

“It is a disgrace the Government spends eleven times more locking up our young people than it does on backing projects to stop them getting involved in crime in the first place.

“Dragging young people through the criminal justice system for minor offences is the best way of helping them to graduate to a more serious life of crime.

“Labour talks tough on crime, and then creates more criminals. It’s time to talk sense and act smart to stop the young offenders of today becoming the hardened criminals of tomorrow.

“We need to see innovative approaches that ensure children make amends to their victims and put things right, rather than immediately criminalising them.

“The Liberal Democrats propose a new approach to youth justice that prevents young people from getting into crime in the first place.”

The figures are broken down by police force area in the attached spreadsheet.

“It is a shocking indictment of the Government that around half of all pupils cannot get five good GCSEs including English and maths after over a decade of formal education,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws.

Commenting on today’s GCSE results, David Laws said: “Today’s results reflect a huge amount of work by many pupils and schools, and I would like to congratulate everyone who has worked hard and achieved good grades.
 
“However, today’s statistics also highlight the twin crisis in education - too many pupils failing to get good results and a lack of confidence in standards. 

“It is a shocking indictment of the Government that around half of all pupils cannot get five good GCSEs including English and maths after over a decade of formal education. In the poorest areas, up to 70% of children fail to achieve this standard. These children are the ones who will now struggle to find jobs, and risk ending up as long term unemployed.
 
“We need to cut class sizes in primary schools and introduce a Pupil Premium to target resources more effectively at those children who are falling behind.
 
“The second big problem in education is the lack of public confidence in exam standards and qualifications. As a consequence, some schools are considering shunning GCSEs, and the Government’s complex Diploma looks like an expensive flop.
 
“The Government needs to introduce a truly independent Educational Standards Authority to act as a credible standards watchdog, and its first duty should be to review the change in exam results since GCSEs were introduced. Meanwhile, the Government should introduce a new General Diploma, allowing children to mix both academic and vocational qualifications.”

According to Children and Young People Now a specialist magazine, the Youth Justice Board (YJB) is paying 12 IT consultants more than £100,000 a year each. 

On August 1, this it was revealed that the organisation was spending £350,000 a year to employ chief information officer Mike Mackay to oversee its Wiring Up Youth Justice programme. 

Fresh details obtained under the Freedom of Information Act now show that 11 other consultants working on the programme are earning six-figure salaries. Among those on bumper pay packets are project management office manager Andy Weller and delivery model strategist Sue Winter. 

The Wiring Up Youth Justice programme is designed to improve the transfer of sensitive data between different parts of the youth justice system and enable staff to update records on young offenders quickly and securely. 

The YJB’s latest annual accounts show that it spent almost £7.5m on temporary staff working on the IT programme in 2008/09. 

Frances Crook, director of the Howard League for Penal Reform, said she was shocked by the amount the government body was spending on IT consultants. “The YJB already spends two-thirds of its budget on children’s prisons, and spends 10 times more on custody than on crime prevention,” she said. “The money would be better spent keeping children out of prison in the first place.” 

Liberal Democrat Shadow Justice Secretary, David Howarth, who has been campaigning against government departments employing highly paid consultants, added: “It is doubtless that the programme is worthwhile, but questions must be asked about whether it is being managed well.” 

But a YJB spokesman defended its expenditure. “The YJB follows government guidelines when it recruits contractors and pays market rates,” he said. “The three-year Wiring Up Youth Justice programme receives its funding on a yearly basis and so is unable to offer permanent positions. The programme has recorded savings of £8m of public money thanks to its work on increasing effectiveness and efficiency in the youth justice system.”

Pupils in North East Lincolnshire are today celebrating the release of their GCSE results. Preliminary results indicate that the proportion of young people in North East Lincolnshire schools succeeding at GCSE has continued to grow, building upon the achievements of last year with pupils exceeding the expected rates of progress.

The results indicated that 46% of our young people gained 5 or more higher grades A*-C including both English and mathematics, up from 39.7% in 2008.

This is an excellent improvement on last year, with the majority of students achieving above expectations.

For the fourth year running, the 5+ A*-C results generally have improved, from 42% in 2005 to an impressive 70% in 2009, a massive improvement.

This demonstrates that the tremendous efforts of the schools to raise standards across the borough for all young people are bearing fruit. This reflects the hard work of students and their teachers, parents and carers across the Authority.

As the school curriculum broadens, a growing number of young people in North East Lincolnshire are now choosing to follow a vocational course that is equivalent to GCSE level and this contributes to the significant improvement to achieve an additional 11% on last year.

Tollbar have once again produced an outstanding set of results, with 99.7% of students gaining 5 or more higher grades with over 86% achieving this level with English and mathematics included.

Healing and Humberston schools have also continued to demonstrate high levels of performance at GCSE with more than 60% of students achieving 5+ A*-C including English and mathematics.

Most schools in North East Lincolnshire have shown significant improvement in 5+ A*-C results.

Councillor Tony McCabe, portfolio holder for children and family services has said: “Congratulations to everyone who has received their results today. I am extremely proud of all the young people in the borough, their hard work and dedication has been reflected in these exceptional results.

“Thanks must also go to the teachers, parents and carers who have supported these pupils along the way. It is particularly pleasing to see the success of the new vocational courses.

“Both GCSEs and vocational courses are very challenging qualifications and once again the young people of North East Lincolnshire have risen to the challenge.

“I wish them every success as they proceed with their education or chosen career path.”

  The government owns an area of surplus land almost as big as Slough that could be used to build almost 100,000 new homes, the Liberal Democrats have claimed.

  The party claims that more than 3,100 hectares of surplus land are owned by the public sector.

  Guidelines say that property must be sold within six months if it already holds housing, but can be left for three years if it is empty.

  The land is owned by government departments and the Ministry of Defence.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather said: “Ministers need to do a thorough audit of the surplus land in their departments and work out what could be used to benefit homeless families.

“Land shouldn’t sit empty for years on end if there are people with nowhere to live. We have a unique opportunity to build much-needed social and affordable homes, boost the struggling construction industry, and protect future generations from the misery of temporary accommodation.”

Preparations for General Election already underway in North East Lincolnshire and electoral registration forms have recently been sent to homes in the Borough. 

Although the General Election has yet to be called, council officials in North East Lincolnshire are already working hard to make sure that all eligible residents can vote on polling day. 

The Electoral Registration Officer and his staff have sent forms to households in North East Lincolnshire this week so that a new electoral register can be compiled in time for next year’s elections, including the council elections in May. 

Tony Hunter, Electoral Registration Officer for North East Lincolnshire, said: “It’s simple to register – look out for the form that will be coming through your letter box over the coming weeks, and you’ll be able to help choose the people that make the decisions which affect your everyday life. 

“If there are no changes to the details on the form, residents can confirm this using the special freephone, internet and text messaging service.  

“It takes just minutes to confirm your details, and the use of these electronic services saves the council money. Full instructions will be on the form for your household, together with its own unique security codes. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The freephone telephone service is also available in five other languages. 

“Residents who need to make changes to their details must complete the form and return it by post to the council offices.” 

For some people, this may be the first General Election that they get to take part in and may not be clear about what to do. You can find out more by calling either of these three numbers: (01472) 324161, (01472) 324118, or (01472) 324160, or you can visit the Electoral Commission’s website at www.aboutmyvote.co.uk 

Karen Quaintmere, Head of Electoral Administration for the Electoral Commission, said: “There’s a General Election coming between now and June 2010 and local elections in England on 6 May 2010. If you’re not registered to vote, then you can’t make a decision about who represents you in Westminster and on your local council. Secure your voice on the issue that matter to you now: it only takes a few minutes.”

The Tory MEP, Dan Hannan who described the NHS as a “mistake” during an American TV interview, as today really gone over the top – tonight he’s at the centre of a “political storm”. 

He has appeared on reason.tv - an American internet channel - in which he is asked for his ‘political influences’. 

Q: “Who are your political influences? I’ve seen you reference Ron Paul, I believe you have referenced Hayek and Freidman on your blog. 

Hannan: “Yeah, all of those guys…In the British context, Enoch Powell. He was somebody who understood the importance of national democracy, who understood why you need to live in an independent country and what that meant, as well as being a free marketeer and a small government Conservative.” 

It is worth noting for anyone who cannot remember Enoch Powell, was the Conservative minister who was cast into the political wilderness after warning that open immigration would lead to “rivers of blood.” 

Naturally, the Labour Party has quickly seized upon Mr Hannan’s word; however the Conservative Party is somewhat slow to comment they are saying that he is not referring to his immigration policies.  

HUMBERSIDE Police starts its “Who’s Going out Tonight” publicity campaign today warning about the dangers of excessive drinking prior to the Bank holiday weekend.

Force statistics show an increase in alcohol related incidents during the month of August based on previous two years data. The campaign aims to support front-line operations by attempting to change drinking behaviours and help to reduce instances of alcohol related violence. 

A hard hitting television advertisement, posters, beer mats, smoking bins, online activity and the www.onetoomany.org.uk website form part of the campaign with links to Drink Aware, the NHS advice page and Alcohol, Know Your Limits.   

The television advert is starting from today and will also run on plasma screens in pubs and clubs across Hull and Grimsby in the run up to the bank holiday weekend.  

The advert takes the form of a short video charting the progress of two drinkers as they move from merely merry towards volatile and violent. The campaign aims to educate both young men and women about the negative effects of excessive drinking.   

‘Who’s Going out Tonight’ is one of many initiatives employed by Humberside Police to ensure that people drink sensibly and safely. Working very closely with the licensing department to ensure that good and safe practice is adopted by licensed premises, to minimise drunkenness and underage sales of alcohol.   

Inspector Iain Dixon, Hull City Centre Violent Crime Team, said: “We know that there are clear links between alcohol consumption and violent crime and disorder. Humberside Police proactively patrol busy night-time areas altering patrol times and locations to meet anticipated demand.   

“We work very closely with the Local Authority, Primary Care Trust (or CPT in North East Lincolnshire), the Ambulance Service and local businesses in the city centre to pro-actively reduce the numbers of and opportunities for violent crime to occur. 

“Ultimately, there is only so much the Police and other Authorities can do to modify people’s drinking behaviour. The ‘Who’s Going out Tonight’ campaign is one of the many measures we are investigating to help educate people about the affects of excessive alcohol consumption. Ideally, we want everyone to have a good time without resorting to violence, or becoming a victim of crime.” 

Other safety messages include raising awareness about bogus taxis and drink spiking.  Partnership working is a key part of the success within the night- time economy, and Humberside Police is keen to promote good initiatives such as the joint Police and Ambulance service paramedic response car, police and SIA checks on door supervisors, and the introduction of polycarbonate drinking glasses.

  Cleethorpes Discovery Centre is hosting a special RSPB wildlife discovery roadshow this weekend, on Sunday and Monday, August 30 and 31.

  All are invited to come along to see some live moths, to search for bugs, learn the sounds of birdsong, and to go for a short wildlife walk to discover what’s lurking in the sand dunes - and you can also put yourself to the test in our wildlife challenge.

The roadshow will be on from 10am to 4pm on both days - so come along and enjoy the fun!For more information call (01405) 704665 or email blacktoft.sands@rspb.org.uk

Commenting on Network Rail’s proposals on high speed rail, Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, Alistair Carmichael said: “Any plans for high speed rail must benefit the entire UK, including Scotland.” 

“It is welcome that Network Rail appears to have recognised this.

“It is important that we invest in high speed rail in order to cut journey times between Scotland and England and reduce emissions from unnecessary flights.

“The Government’s strategy leaves us with proposals which build high speed rail and runways, when in fact the success of the first removes the need for the second.”

“The Government needs to change the way Jobcentres work so that people get help far earlier,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, Steve Webb.

Commenting on ONS figures showing the biggest year-on-year increase workless household rate since Labour came to power, Steve Webb said: “Labour’s claims to have tackled worklessness have been exposed as fantasy.

“The alarming jump in the number of households where no one is working is a sure sign that the recession will have a devastating impact on hundreds of thousands of families.

“The Government needs to change the way Jobcentres work so that people get help far earlier. No one should be sat on benefits for a year after losing their job.”

  Commenting on today’s Government figures which show that children skipped almost 4m days of school last year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said: “These figures are a disgrace. The Government’s truancy strategies are not working.”

  “Ministers have poured hundreds of millions of pounds into reducing truancy over recent years, but this money seems to have been completely wasted.

  “It is worrying that there has been a rise in the number of children missing school because of unauthorised holidays. Parents should not be removing their children from school without permission from their teachers.”

“These are horrifying statistics. The toll of damage from drugs is immense and the cost to the NHS is enormous,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb.

Commenting on today’s ONS statistics which reveal that deaths from drug overdoses are at an eight year high, Norman Lamb said: “These are horrifying statistics. The toll of damage from drugs is immense and the cost to the NHS is enormous.

“The Government’s punitive policies and heavy-handed rhetoric on drugs are failing. Ministers must make sure that schools and public services work together to make sure that the message gets out that drugs kill.

“Ministers have been very good at talking tough when it comes to drugs but this isn’t working. They must urgently re-think their strategy before even more lives are lost.”

  Commenting on Network Rail’s proposals for a new High Speed Rail link, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: “It is welcome that Network Rail is increasingly looking to grow the network, rather than simply handle what is already there.” 

  “There is no doubt that we need to expand the network over the next 20 years if we are to deal with both increased demand and reduce carbon emissions from transport.

  “That means not simply investment in high speed rail, but also the reopening of lines and stations that should never have been closed.

  “All three major parties now say they are committed to high speed rail, but such promises need to be taken with a pinch of salt unless it is clear how they are to be funded. Only the Liberal Democrats have identified a clear funding stream to guarantee that high speed rail goes ahead.”

The number of 16-year-olds who have left compulsory education without five good GCSEs (A*-C) since Labour came to power is expected to reach 3m, research by the Liberal Democrats has found. 

Since 1997, more than 2.8m 16-year-olds have finished school without five decent qualifications - the Government’s key benchmark. The trend is set to continue when the 2009 results are published tomorrow [Thursday 27 August], pushing the total to more than 3m.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said: “These shocking figures reveal the true extent of Labour’s failure in education.

“After over 10 years in power, it is deeply concerning that around one third of pupils are leaving education without even achieving the basic standard of five good GCSEs. 

“It is these young people, let down by Labour, who are now likely to be bearing the brunt of the recession.

“Ministers need to start getting the basics right early on, so no child falls behind. We need to target additional funding at the children who are struggling, and cut class sizes so every young child gets the attention they need.”

For the results to-date please click here.

The Metropolitan Police will face their first real test of public scrutiny since the G20 demonstrations when up to 3,000 people will “swoop” on an undisclosed location in London and establish a week-long Camp for Climate Change. Participants will be alerted to the proposed site by text message.

Representatives of Climate Camp have been in talks with the police but the group’s organisers refuse to disclose the location because they fear the police will attempt to disrupt their plans.

That sense of mistrust is echoed by many members of the public, according to an opinion poll published yesterday by Christian Aid. The YouGov survey of 2,188 adults found that 50 per cent believe the police are too heavy-handed when dealing with protests and 18 per cent said that they had been put off protesting by police tactics.

The Met, which has been criticised for its policing of the G20 protests in a series of official reports, is attempting to show a different public face before Climate Camp. In the days before the G20 demonstrations in April, senior officers promised a robust response to the threat of violence by a coalition of protest groups and said that they were “up for it”.

Almost 300 complaints about policing during the two days of protests, many concerning the tactic of containing or “kettling” demonstrators, are being investigated. In advance of Climate Camp, however, Scotland Yard is talking about a “neighbourhood policing” approach and has set up a feed on the Twitter networking site in an attempt to communicate with demonstrators.

“This is the first real test since G20 of whether there is going to be a new approach to the policing of lawful protest,” said the Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Minister, Tom Brake.

“I’m hoping the kettling tactic will not be deployed and the police will be more flexible and use common sense when it comes to assessing any risk that may be posed,” he said.

Assistant Commissioner Chris Allison, head of public order policing at the Met, said many of the recommendations made in official reports were being used in training and tactics. “Every day we’ve been running a protest of some sort in and around London. That’s part and parcel of policing the capital,” he added.

Police are concerned that they do not know the location of the event, which coincides with the August Bank Holiday weekend while thousands of officers will be on duty at Notting Hill Carnival in West London. 

The Climate Camp activists will gather at oil company headquarters, the Bank of England and the 2012 Olympic site, before being told the camp’s location.

In an open letter to Scotland Yard, the organisers said: “I’m afraid we just don’t trust the police. Why? Because it seems as though every time we have a protest, the police turn up and start hitting people.”

A team of barristers, solicitors and law students will join protesters to keep a watch on officers’ conduct. Others will be manning a telephone Arrest Line. The Liberal Democrats are sending parliamentary observers including Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Simon Hughes, and Liberal Democrat MP for Richmond Park, Susan Kramer.

James Lloyd, a Lib Dem environmental adviser, who had his notebook and camera taken from him by officers when he was acting as a legal observer during a police raid linked to the G20 protests, defended the decision to keep the camp location confidential. “Trust between Climate Camp and police is still very, very low,” he said. “Just because the police have changed their PR tone doesn’t mean they have changed their tactics.”

Low interest rates for council investments could lose councils almost £900m compared to last year, the equivalent of £50 on the average Council Tax bill, research by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. 

Draft data from the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) on local authority investments in 2007/08 suggests that the average rate of investment on all external investments in England and Wales was around 5.58%.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Local Government Secretary Julia Goldsworthysaid: “This will put even more pressure on people paying the already high Council Tax.

“Many families are struggling to pay the bills and any increase in the Council Tax could be a burden too far. The economic crisis is hitting household and council budgets from every angle.

“The real problem here is that the Council Tax hits those who can least afford it, like pensioners, the most. Because of this unfair system, any attempt to protect local services from cuts through Council Tax rises will put more and more pressure on low income households.

“We need to scrap the Council Tax and replace it with a fair tax based on ability to pay.”

We must be getting close to a General Election – the Tories are starting to talk tough on crime. But, remember the last time they were in power we had riots, low level crime, serious crime, muggings and even murders – things were no different.

Nonetheless, today Shadow Home Secretary Chris Grayling claimed that parts of Britain are becoming like the American crime haven of Baltimore, as portrayed in The Wire.

Grayling made the remarks in a speech on drug and crime culture in which he said: “The Wire used to be just a work of fiction for British viewers. But under this Government, in many parts of British cities, The Wire has become a part of real life in this country too.

“Far too many of those features of what we have always seen as a US phenomenon are now to be found on the streets of Britain as well.”

But his comments are not backed up by facts. With 234 murders in 2008 Baltimore had nearly twice the number of London, despite having less than one tenth of the population. In fact the chance of being murdered in Baltimore, a city with a population of about 650,000, is one in 2,700. In Britain the chances are one in 85,000.

You are also more likely to be robbed in Baltimore than in the UK – the chances being one in 150 compared with one in 1,000. And more likely to become a victim of burglary – one in 80 compared to one in 90.

  Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy said: “The fact that the Tories can only comprehend the issues real people face through box sets watched in the comfort of their own living rooms only highlights their total detachment from the concerns of Britain’s inner cities.

  “We look forward to Chris Grayling’s reassessment of the devastating impact of Thatcherism on this country once he’s watched series 2.”

Gilbey Wines and Stores a shop in the heart of West Marsh Ward that flouted licensing laws and attempted to sell alcohol to youngsters THREE TIMES has had its license suspended.

At a meeting of North East Lincolnshire Council’s Licensing Committee, Councillors suspended the store’s license for eight weeks.

The Gilbey Road store will only re-open if trading standards officers are satisfied the supermarket has met a series of criteria.

Recommendations include improving display material, staff training, the introduction of a refusals book and better CCTV coverage.

The committee heard that the store failed test purchases carried out by North East Lincolnshire Council’s trading standards team on September 25 2007, June 19, 2008, and January 16 this year. The store attempted to sell alcoholic drinks to youngsters aged 14 to 17, watched by trading standards officers.

Councillor Steve Beasant, portfolio holder for public protection and community safety, said: “This store had plenty of chances to put things right after its first failed test purchase but continued flouting the law.

“This review proves in no uncertain terms that trading standards officers will take action against any premises failing in its responsibility to safeguard young lives. The penalty for not doing so is severe, the loss of a license and a livelihood.”

Andy Foster, the council’s trading standards manager, said: “Despite attempts to educate the business to prevent further wrong-doing, significant doubts remained about the shop’s ability to ask for identification and refuse to serve if unsatisfied.

“This is the last chance the business will have to adopt a series of recommendations put forward by the committee. The license will be surrended if there are further test purchase failures.”

Responding to Gordon Brown’s comments on the return of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi to Libya, Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey said: “Gordon Brown’s comments on Lockerbie are a masterclass in evasion.”

“When a decision is made by another politician, and has such grave international consequences, the Prime Minister’s refusal to say whether or not he supports it almost amounts to negligence.

“It is hard to see why he can’t tell us what he thinks of the decision to release a man who has been convicted of the worst terrorist attack in British history.

“As long as Gordon Brown remains silent on this issue, people will suspect he has something to hide.”

“This will doubtless be bad news for many employees in Scotland, and makes the Government’s inability to stop Goodwin’s substantial pay-off all the more difficult to swallow,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Scotland Secretary, Alistair Carmichael. 

Commenting on the news that RBS is to cap increases in the pensions of over 60,000 workers, Alistair Carmichael said: “Considering Fred Goodwin managed to get away with much of his massive pension despite his catastrophic management of what was the UK’s largest bank, it seems a little tough that it is those whose jobs he endangered who have to make savings.

“It is right that a state-owned bank such as RBS should look at what savings it can make. But any belt-tightening should start at the top.

“This will doubtless be bad news for many employees in Scotland, and makes the Government’s inability to stop Goodwin’s substantial pay-off all the more difficult to swallow.”

  Commenting on today’s figures which show that fewer seven-year-olds in England mastered the basics of maths this year, Liberal Democrat Shadow Schools Secretary, David Laws said: “The decline in maths scores for seven year olds is a blow to ministers who have been targeting resources in order to improve performance.

  “It is enormously concerning that children are not mastering basic English and maths at an early age, because without these skills they cannot go on to do well in secondary school.

  “The Government should be especially ashamed of the fact that one in four boys has failed to master basic writing skills by this age. Ministers clearly need to target additional resources in this area reduce class sizes.”

“We cannot allow the Government to rush through proposals which could lead to innocent people being cut off from vital internet services,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture Secretary, Don Foster. 

Commenting on the Government’s announcement of new measures that could see people who illegally download films and music cut off from the internet, Don Foster said: “Illegal downloading poses an extremely serious threat to our creative industries, but this is a draconian and ill-considered move by the Government.
 
“A similar law has been rejected in France and we must hope the same happens here.
 
“While action needs to be taken against piracy, the Government must give careful consideration to concerns over privacy and ensure proper legal processes are followed.

“We cannot allow the Government to rush through proposals which could lead to innocent people being cut off from vital internet services.”

The system for deciding whether a child should be taken into care should be reviewed to avoid discrepancies between different local authorities, according to a paper on child protection written by the Liberal Democrats.

Protecting Our Children sets out the Liberal Democrat’s vision for child protection.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Children’s Minister, Annette Brooke said in the report: “We are concerned that the threshold for taking children into care is not uniform due to an absence of national guiding principles.

“A recent report by the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee on looked-after children highlighted ‘huge variations on the rates of children in care throughout the country’.”

Annette Brooke is proposing that an expert body with representation from all relevant disciplines should be set up to look at the principles surrounding the thresholds for taking children into care.

The report also suggests secondments for social workers into police forces and schools in a bid to improve multi-disciplinary training.

  “These deeply troubling figures highlight the chronic failure of this Government’s prison policy,” said the Liberal Democrat Justice Spokesperson, Paul Holmes.

  Commenting on today’s [Tuesday 25 August] report by the Prison Reform Trust which reveals the 20 most overcrowded jails in England and Wales, Paul Holmes said: “These deeply troubling figures highlight the chronic failure of this Government’s prison policy.
 
  “Labour’s obsession with sounding tough on crime has left our prisons dangerously overcrowded with sky-high re-offending rates.

“Ministers must realise the bankruptcy of their approach and focus instead on what works. This means moving drug addicts and prisoners with mental health problems into more appropriate accommodation and treatment and investing in alternatives such as restorative justice.”

Following the introduction of the new GP’s contracts, GPs are no longer required to work weekends; however primary care trusts are now employing GPs from European countries such as Lithuania, Poland and Hungary. 

They are able to earn up to £100 an hour, with one primary care trust paying nine Polish and two German doctors a total of £267,000 a year, it was reported.  

It comes as a “radical review” of out-of-hours care is need to prevent European doctors flying to Britain to cover weekend shifts.  

Professor Steve Field, the head of the Royal College of GPs said the college was concerned about the quality of care being offered to patients in some parts of the country.  

According to an investigation by The Daily Mail, It was disclosed that more than a third of the 152 PCTs in England have flown in foreign GPs in the last year.  

Halton and St Helens PCT spent the most on foreign GPs two years running. Between 2008-09, it paid nine Polish and two German doctors a total of £267,000 for shifts. 

South Western Ambulance Service, which arranges out-of-hours cover in Bournemouth, Dorset and Somerset, spent £163,760 in the same period for four Germany GPs.  

The figures come after the death in 2008 of 70-year-old David Gray, who was given a massive dose of painkillers by German doctor Daniel Ubani.  

Dr Ubani had flown to Britain to work for a Cambridgeshire health trust and later said extreme tiredness and only three hours sleep contributed to his mistake.  

Prof Field said on Monday: “A comprehensive review of out-of-hours and weekend care is needed. 

“I am particularly worried about the use of doctors from Europe flying in to provide out-of-hours care and then flying back to their home countries to provide services there.” 

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: “The Government completely botched reform of the GP contract and failed to develop an adequate out-of-hours care system. 

“The call by the Royal College of GPs for an inquiry underlines the need for a complete overhaul of the system which takes into account the problems which have emerged over the past few years. 

“Relying on doctors being flown in for a weekend shift is not a sustainable way to cover up ministers’ mistakes.” 

“A trusted out-of-hours service is vital for patients. The current system is not working and this is placing too much pressure on A&E departments.” 

A spokesman for the Department of Health said: “The NHS has always used professionals trained abroad because until recently we did not train enough for our own needs.  

“Now the need to use overseas doctors is declining.”

Liberal Democrat MP for Leeds North West, Greg Mulholland has added his weight to a campaign run by a coalition of twenty organisations representing people with long-term conditions to scrap prescription charges for all people with long-term conditions without delay. 

Greg has supported the ‘Prescription Promise’ campaign by signing up to a Parliamentary motion, calling for the Government to end this unfair charge before the next General Election, which must happen by June 2010. 

The Prime Minister promised at the Labour Party Conference last September to abolish prescription charges for people living with long-term conditions. One year on, 162 MPs have signed a parliamentary motion supporting the campaign and 1,450 members of the public in England have also signed a petition in support.

Greg said: “The Government is reviewing this issue, but in the meantime, large numbers of people with long-term conditions are struggling to afford their prescription charges and many are making a difficult and distressing choice not to take vital medication because of the cost. 

“I am calling for an end to this unfair charge on people with long-term conditions as soon as possible.” 

Members of the public who would like to support the ‘Prescription Promise’ campaign can do so at www.prescriptionpromise.org

The Government owns an area of surplus land almost as big as Slough that could be used to build almost 100,000 new homes, analysis by the Liberal Democrats has revealed. 

Over 3,100 hectares of surplus land are owned by the public sector. Guidelines say that property must be sold within six months if it already holds housing, but can be left for three years if it is empty.

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather said: “With 1.8m families stranded on the housing waiting list, it is completely unacceptable that the Government is sitting on so much land that has already been designated for housing.

“Ministers need to do a thorough audit of the surplus land in their departments and work out what could be used to benefit homeless families.

“The Government need to get its priorities right. It’s important to get a good price for surplus land, but this needs to be balanced against the social value of building new homes.

“Land shouldn’t sit empty for years on end if there are people with nowhere to live. We have a unique opportunity to build much-needed social and affordable homes, boost the struggling construction industry, and protect future generations from the misery of temporary accommodation.”

It has emerged that a legislative blunder dating back 25 years, people who sell DVDs and videos illegally, even pornography to children, cannot be prosecuted.

It could also pave the way for the hundreds of people who have been convicted of video piracy and underage selling in the last quarter of a century to sue for damages.

It also means the requirement to put film classification on videos and DVDs is now in disarray.

In a major embarrassment crossing several governments, officials have discovered the 1984 act that allows prosecutions for selling illegal videos and DVDs or breaches of age classifications is unenforceable.

It means an effective free-for-all for anyone breaching video sales laws, including supplying “knock-off” or illegal copies, porn and other 18-only films to minors or hard-core pornographic films outside of licensed sex shops.

The blunder centres on the 1984 Video Recordings Act which the then British Tory Government should have notified with the European Commission but failed to do so.

The error also went unnoticed when the laws were amended in 1993 and 1994.

The technicality means the act is unenforceable and urgent action is now under way to notify Europe and re-enact the legislation.

However, the process will take at least three months and is unlikely to be rectified before the New Year.

In the meantime no one can be prosecuted under the laws and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has written to relevant bodies telling them not to pursue any further prosecutions because of the “serious issue”.

  Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: “The Conservative’s incompetence when they were in Government has made laws designed to prevent video piracy and protect children from harmful DVDs unenforceable and thrown film censorship into chaos.

  “This must be a massive embarrassment to the Tories, especially as David Cameron was the special adviser to the Home Secretary in 1993 when the law was amended.

  “Until the problems have been overcome we must hope that legitimate retailers will observe the spirit of the act to protect our children from violent and explicit DVDs and video games.”

The blunder was discovered as the DCMS was preparing to establish a new video games classification system.

There were 1,659 successful prosecutions under the act between 1995 and 2007 – the only figures available – and lawyers for the DCMS insist those convictions will remain safe.

However, sources accepted such assurances could not guarantee that legal challenges could still be made as the individuals were effectively prosecuted under an Act that should not have been enforced.

The Act also required that videos carry the film classification, which now is also in question.

However, Lavinia Carey, director general of the British Video Association which represents 90 per cent of the industry, said: “All our members will be continuing to do their business as though the Act was still in force.”

The number of people admitted to hospital with obesity has almost tripled over the last five years, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. Information uncovered in a Parliamentary Question shows that around 100 people are being admitted each day. 

The figures reveal that:

Ø       There has been a 340% increase in the number of 18-30 year olds being admitted to hospital for obesity - with 444 admissions in 2007/08

Ø       There has been a 34% increase in the number of under-18s admitted to hospital for obesity - with 830 admissions in 2007/08

Ø       The total number of people being admitted to hospital for obesity has increased by 190% over the last five years - with 5,056 admissions in 2007/08

Ø       There has been an 84 % increase in the number of bed days being taken up by obese patients, with 14,320 days in 2007/08 - the equivalent of 40 beds being occupied each day of the year

Ø       Over two thirds of patients admitted are women - with 11,098 admissions for women in 2007/08

Commenting Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said: “The Government’s failure to tackle the shocking levels of adult and childhood obesity is deeply depressing.

“The fact that the number of people admitted to hospital because of obesity has nearly tripled since Labour came to power makes it clear that their poorly-thought-out and gimmicky approach to public health simply isn’t working.

“Ministers need to give health trusts the freedom to innovate and make real, long term progress when it comes to tackling these problems.

“Endless diktats from Whitehall won’t solve the obesity crisis, local empowerment and engagement will.”

For a summary of the findings, please click here.

  County councils and unitary authorities have paid out an average of nearly £1m each in compensation to people who have tripped on pavements in the last five years, the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

  Freedom of Information responses from more than 90 councils show they have paid out more than £82m. This number is likely to grow as there are currently more than 10,000 cases outstanding.

  Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Transport Secretary, Norman Baker said: “With council and household budgets under more pressure than ever, the last thing the local taxpayer needs is to be paying massive compensation claims for injuries caused by dangerous pavements.

“This is money that could have been spent on improving pavements and preventing these problems in the first place.
 
“Although some councils are investing heavily to improve their footways, others seem content to almost ignore pedestrians entirely. Too many councils seem interested only in motorists and not those who walk, cycle or take the bus.
 
“It appears that some councils seem to be making the cynical calculation that they can afford to pay out compensation rather than invest in improving pavements. This could prove to be a costly mistake if pavements are allowed to deteriorate too far.”

To view the figures, please click here.

More than £500m has been spent on Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks since 2002, the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The rate of checks being carried out has also trebled since they were introduced, while the fees charged for carrying them out have also increased dramatically. 

The figures, revealed in Parliamentary answers given to Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, Jenny Willott, show:

Ø       A total of £571m has been charged in fees for CRB checks since 2002

Ø       The number of checks has nearly tripled from 1.4m in 2002-03 to 3.85m checks in 2008-09

Ø       The number of ‘enhanced’ checks has increased from 1.25m to 3.45m, while the number of ‘standard’ checks have risen from 178,000 to 396,000

Ø       The annual sum of fees charged has more than trebled, from £41m in 2002-03 to £131m in 2008-09

Ø       In the last three years, the fee for a standard check has risen by 37% to £25.18 and for enhanced check by 45% to £35.21

Ø       In 2008-09, nearly 400,000 people had to wait more than a month for their enhanced check, more than double the previous year

Commenting, Jenny Willott said: “The Government is allowing CRB checking to run out of control.
 
“Checking criminal records of people working with children and vulnerable adults is essential. But when the system is so clumsy and costly that it starts putting people off wanting to work with children and vulnerable adults at all, there is something seriously wrong.
 
“Despite acknowledging there is a problem, ministers have only made matters worse and it is clear many employers have simply ignored them. Requiring bodies to submit a minimum annual quota of CRB checks is ludicrous and does nothing to make anyone any safer.
 
“Under the current system, job applicants and volunteers can be forced to pay for several identical CRB checks at any one time just because they are applying for more than one job.
 
“There is no flexibility in to take into account when someone has just received a CRB check for another job application. All too often, they have pay to go through the whole process again. 
 
“Delays in the system are getting worse causing many to miss out on a job offers because their CRB check hasn’t come through in time.” 

For a full copy of the results, please click here.

  Speaking ahead of today’s statement in Holyrood on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg said: “It is absurd and damaging that the British Prime Minister simply remains silent in the hope that someone else will take the flak.”

  “Although the decision to release Megrahi was a Scottish one for which Gordon was not personally responsible, the fallout puts the UK at the centre of an international storm.

  “In these circumstances, it is absurd and damaging that the British prime Minister simply remains silent in the hope that someone else will take the flak.”

“It is deeply regrettable that the legitimacy of the outcome may prove to be questionable,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey.

Commenting on the Afghan elections, Edward Davey said: “The evidence that these elections were seriously flawed is clearly mounting, yet the need for a credible government to emerge is critical.

“With the lives of so many British soldiers lost to secure the chance for democracy, it is deeply regrettable that the legitimacy of the outcome may prove to be questionable.

“For those Afghans who did vote and showed real courage in the face of Taliban threats, they deserve real leadership now from every Afghan politician.”

“We need far more transparency from the British Government,” said the Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary Edward Davey.

Commenting on developments in the situation surrounding the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, Edward Davey said: “The evidence is mounting that there was far more to the release of Megrahi than simply a judicial decision based on compassion.

“The statements from Colonel Gadaffi and his son, coupled with Lord Mandelson meeting with his son in Corfu and Gordon Brown’s reticence, suggest that commercial interests may have played a part in the decision to release this terrorist early.

“We need far more transparency from the British Government, not least in the advice and guidance it gave to the Scottish Government.”  

Council tax could soar by up to £50 as low interest rates hit local authorities, and income from services such as car parking is falling due to the recession. 

Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that councils are set to lose £900million because they are getting less in return for the large amounts of cash they keep on deposit in banks. 

The rise is set to push average Band D council tax bills well past £1,500 next year. Council tax has already more than doubled over the last decade. 

Many councils had expected to get more than 5 per cent but now face returns of just 1.5 per cent. 

Liberal Democrat Shadow Communities and Local Government Secretary, Julia Goldsworthy who unearthed the figures said: “The real problem here is that the council tax hits those who can least afford it – like pensioners – the most.” 

“This will put more pressure on people already paying high council tax. 

“Many families are struggling and any increase could be a burden too far.” 

Town halls are reluctant to slash spending instead, because of rising homelessness and unemployment. 

Julia Goldsworthy said it was time to axe council tax. She said: “Protecting services by raising council tax will put more pressure on low-income households. 

“We need to scrap council tax and replace it with one based on ability to pay.”  

The Local Government Association admitted the crunch had hit hard. A spokesman said: “Councils feel it in the same way as hard-pressed families. 

“Low interest rates mean authorities are less able to rely on savings. 

“At this time of repossessions and redundancies, more people need the vital support only councils can provide.”

The Government’s record on defending British troops serving in Afghanistan has been brought into question by a scathing leaked report revealing failures in buying defence equipment. 

An official inquiry found evidence of “endemic” problems, with projects spiralling £35bn over budget and running five years late. It says that enemies such as the Taliban “are unlikely to wait for our sclerotic acquisition systems to catch up”. 

The highly critical findings will fuel the controversy over whether British lives are being put at risk in Afghanistan by a lack of equipment. Ministers insist that adequate resources are reaching the front line. But Downing Street is believed to have shelved publication of the report last month in an attempt to limit the damage at a time when a shortage of helicopters was being partly blamed for the deaths of servicemen.  

Bernard Gray, a former special adviser at the Ministry of Defence (MoD), asks in his hard-hitting report: “How can it be that it takes 20 years to buy a ship, or aircraft, or tank? Why does it always seem to cost at least twice what was thought? Even worse, at the end of the wait, why does it never quite seem to do what it was supposed to do?” 

His 296-page report, leaked to The Sunday Times, suggests that the average increase in cost while projects are developed is 40 per cent or £300m. It says that “lethal” weakness in government programmes “cause damage to UK military output.”  

Mr Gray rejects Labour claims that the problems were inherited from the Tories, insisting they affect “projects old and new, large and small, to a greater or lesser extent”. 

He criticises ministers for failing to hold a wholesale defence review since 1998. “In corporate life, no enterprise would persist with a 12-year-old strategy without at least re-evaluating it fully on a regular basis. Few who would expect to prosper would even try to do so,” he says. 

The report argues that Britain is not devoting enough resources to defence to meet its commitments. “Either we find substantially more money which, to be polite, seems difficult to imagine in the current economic conditions… or we may be forced to choose, and the choice will be painful.”  

The Government denied the review had been suppressed and said it would be published this autumn alongside a Green Paper on defence. An MoD spokesman said: “This report is currently in draft format and we are working hard with him [Mr Gray] on the issues he has identified. We are constantly improving the procurement process which has seen us deliver £10bn of equipment to the front line over the last three years.” 

  Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey called for the immediate publication of the report.

  “It beggars belief that the Government tried to keep this report hidden. It is essential to the success of our current and future operations abroad, and to the safety of our troops that Labour faces up to the procurement and spending shambles over which it has presided,” he said.

  “We need a completely honest, fully informed review of defence spending and MoD projects.

  “Only then can we begin to deal with the gaping black hole in the defence budget.”

Tuesday is the monthly meeting of East Marsh Involve, and will be held as usual on the last Tuesday of the month at the Grimsby Neighbourhood Centre - the meeting will start at 6pm on 25 August.

On this occasion the first part of the meeting will be the Annual General Meeting and the Officers and Committee Members will be elected for the forthcoming year.

I am pleased say that at this meeting Ward Councillor’s will be able to report on some very good news on the following issues: empty properties within the East Marsh; some important news on planning issues and the old Art College in Eleanor Street (see my previous post for further details).

The meeting as usual is open to all members of the East Marsh Community and the aim of this community meeting is to discuss community issues; with the purpose of overcoming ongoing problems, improve service and report regularly on all issues raised at previous meetings.

AGENDA FOR EAST MARSH INVOLVE – Tuesday 25 August, 6pm:  

Ø     Annual General Meeting and Election of officers

Ø     Councillor’s Ward Funding

Ø     Other Funding Requests  

Ø     East Marsh Priority Setting (Crime Issues)

Ø     Neighbourhood Development Worker’s Update

Ø     Councillor’s Report

Ø      Any Other Business

Please be aware that all local residents are eligible to attend this meeting, and have their say about local services - it’s your chance to be listened too.

  This Tuesday (25 August), is the next meeting of East Marsh Involve; the meeting will take place at the Grimsby Neighbourhood Centre at the corner of Weelsby Street and Wellington Street, and will start at 6pm – all residents will be welcome to attend.

  One of the issues that I will be reporting back on is the large derelict building which is situated on Eleanor Street; the old Grimsby Technical School and latterly the Art College.

  I have since found out a little more about the building; it was originally granted a grade II listing by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in 1995. Originally the young people of East Marsh Involve raised concerns about the poor condition of the building which has been empty since the mid 1990s, but it is rapidly deteriorating.

The school was designed by HC Scaping, and it was built by Hewins and Goodhand a well known local builder in 1894. Below the central bay window is a marble foundation plaque for the First Higher Grade School, dated 29 October 1894. To the left is a finely-inscribed C20 slate plaque by Philip Pape of Barton on Humber, a former Art College teacher, recording burials of former members. Above the window there is a 1894 marble plaque in carved ashlar surround naming the building as the Wintringham Higher Grade School, recording the School Board Members, architect and builders. At some point later it obviously became known as the Grimsby Technical School and then the Art College – unfortunately it is left abandon.

Last Friday, Compass FM asked me if I would take part in an interview about the building, which I gladly obliged.

I was able to tell them: “That in many respects if this building had been in a prime location, it would never have been left to rot and decay – it is shame that someone has been allowed to get away with this, but that is history. If the old school had been in London; it would have been turned into flats before now, and they would be fully occupied.

“However, we are we are with this building, but the good thing is that we are moving on. Some months back young people and children; unbeknown to ourselves were getting into the old school, and placing themselves in danger. But we have now made this building safe – we have made sure that no one can gain access and it is patrolled regularly.

“We now hope sooner rather than later; that the old school will change ownership and this will help with the regeneration of this area. Many individuals have been working on this complex issue of building and land ownership and it is now coming to a conclusion – I would naturally like to thank them all.”

Professional artists invite families from across North East Lincolnshire to join them and create something fantastic.

Local libraries across our region will run a series of events in August to improve our creativity and encourage spending time together. Fantasy art is one of many organised activities for children and families across the borough this summer.

Councillor Steve Hocknell, portfolio holder for culture, leisure and healthier communities, said: “Fantasy art is an excellent opportunity for families to engage in creative activities together. We try to reach the widest audience and local libraries are a perfect place to do that.

“It is important to take advantage of summer holidays and spend some time together. And there is no better way than enjoying time while participating in Fantasy art.”

These events are free but places are limited so interested people are advised to book in the libraries the events are going to take place.

Come to Fantasy art and let your imagination run wild.

Monday, August 24: Cleethorpes Library 10.30am to 11.30am; Grimsby Central Library 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Tuesday, August 25: Laceby Library 10.30am to 11.30am; Grant Thorold Library 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Wednesday, August 26: Willows Library 10.30am to 11.30am; Humberston Library 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Thursday, August 27: Nunsthorpe Library 10.30am to 11.30am; Immingham Library 2.30pm to 3.30pm

Friday, August 28: Scartho Library 10.30am to 11.30am; Waltham Library 2.30pm to 3.30pm

The Sunday Telegraph have reported today a Freedom of Information (FOI) request submitted to the Ministry of Defence, asks for publication of any correspondence between Gen Dannatt and Hadyn Parry, the chairman of the Help for Heroes charity.

The news comes after Labour MPs and ministers were accused of using FOI laws to make trouble for Sir Richard by unearthing his expenses claims, after he publicly criticised the lack of resources given by the Government to the troops in Afghanistan.

Whilst the MoD would not disclose who was behind the Help for Heroes FOI request, which was submitted in June, Conservative MPs claimed it looked like fresh evidence of a smear campaign.

Whoever submitted the FOI request could have been seeking to find out whether Gen Dannatt had claimed expenses from Help the Heroes following his unpaid work on the charity’s behalf.

Mr Parry described Gen Dannatt’s work for the charity as “exemplary”. He said: “Sir Richard has done a tremendous job for the charity. His work has been exemplary – beyond reproach.”

Last week it was revealed that, on a tip-off from inside government, several FOI requests were submitted to expose the 58-year-old general’s expenses. Kevan Jones, the Veterans Minister, was named on political website Guido Fawkes as the figure behind it. But he dismissed the accusation as summer tittle-tattle and heaped praise on Gen Dannatt.

When allegations of a smear campaign first emerged a month ago, Bob Ainsworth, the Defence Secretary, sent a note to all his ministers – Mr Jones; Quentin Davies, Defence Equipment and Support; Bill Rammell, Armed Forces; Lord Drayson, Strategic Defence Acquisition; and Baroness Taylor, International Defence and Security – warning them not to brief against General Dannatt and demanding “complete support” for military commanders.

But last week it emerged that a minister had discussed “chasing” Gen Dannatt over his expenses in an attempt to smear him. Requests were allegedly made under the FOI Act, with the backing of the unnamed minister, to find out the extent of entertaining by the general, who retires as Chief of the General Staff next week.

It was also alleged that a minister had called Gen Dannatt a “complete bastard” for making so many public statements critical of the resources given to the troops in Afghanistan.

  The latest revelations will renew pressure on ministers over the affair. Liberal Democrat Shadow Foreign Secretary, Edward Davey has today written to Mr Ainsworth, asking for further assurances that Gen Dannatt will not become the “target of spin” and that any minister caught briefing against him will be sacked.

  Edward Davey said: “As I am sure you will agree, General Dannatt’s views on Afghanistan have provided a vital contribution to the debate on how we best support our troops in this intense conflict. They were rooted not in a desire to play politics but in a sense of duty which requires that he does everything in his power to support the brave men and women of whom we ask so much. It is my view that he has in fact shown remarkable restraint in not speaking out sooner on the acute shortages of equipment that have hampered operations in Afghanistan.

“A man who has served with the distinction, bravery and commitment of General Dannatt must not become the target of spin and smear. You must provide cast iron reassurances that he will not be subject to any such campaigns from within your department. Have any such moves already taken place, I trust that you will not hesitate to remove from office any minister who has been involved. Only in this way can what I hope are rumours of these utterly distasteful plans be put to rest.”

This article was written by Vince Cable and appeared in today’s Mail on Sunday

For the serious addicts, ITV laid on prime-time live football: a match in Athens between Greek and Spanish clubs (with not a Briton in sight).

There was the start of the final Ashes Test and world athletics every evening: the great Usain Bolt and a woman middle-distance star who looks like a man.

We do have a few elite sportsmen and women, but generally there is a lack of participation and fitness.

And even in sporting activities where we still lead the world, like darts, a beer belly seems to be an asset rather than a liability. 

Figures revealed in a recent Government survey showed that a third of children do no sport at all outside compulsory games in school (and a million miss out even there).

Half of them drop all sport once they leave school. And I was struck by the figure that one in six TV viewers will not change channel if it involves getting out of a chair. 

There is a connection between the lack of exercise and the obesity epidemic.

Overall levels of obesity have doubled in the past 14 years and one in three children leaves primary school obese.

Terrible diets and lack of exercise are making our children look like their counterparts in America, where the problem is worse. 

There is a particular problem for girls and women.

Some 55 per cent of women do less than 30 minutes of continuous sport or active recreation a month (the figure for men is 45 per cent).

There is relatively little encouragement for women’s sport - hands up if you can remember the football team which won the Women’s Premier League last season, or what happened in the last women’s Test match.

As a result of lack of exercise and poor diets there is a growing gulf between idealised female shapes and the reality.

This is one cause of an explosion of eating disorders among girls.

My Lib Dem colleague Jo Swinson is campaigning against advertisers who ‘airbrush’ pictures of women to create a false idea of reality.

Class also plays a role. As it happens my Twickenham constituency is in the borough with the highest level of sports and active leisure participation in the country.

The parks are heaving with junior sports teams on Sunday mornings.

But much of that reflects the tastes and means of a relatively affluent and educated population, with a university (St Mary’s) nearby that specialises in sport.

In many parts of the country, participation is poor.

One factor may be that the cost of belonging to a sports club, and buying kit, is prohibitive for some. But it is more than just money. 

During my childhood we played football and cricket in the street or on waste ground.

It was unheard of to get to school by car: walking and cycling were universal. I don’t think the word ‘obesity’ was ever used. 

But those days are gone and we have to recreate a commitment to fitness in a more pampered society.

School is obviously the place to start.

There are now Government plans to offer every young person five hours of coaching and competition a week. Right now a million children don’t get even the minimum of two hours of exercise. 

It has also set a target of getting two million more people into sport by the 2012 Olympics in order to justify the expense of the Games.

But to meet its own target it has included gardening in the definition of sport. 

Does this mean rose-pruning and grass-cutting as Olympic sports?

But, putting aside the silly targets, there is a serious point that what matters for most adults is exercise and fresh air, not competitive sport. 

In fact the Government has come up with one seriously good idea - appointing Arlene Phillips as a fitness tsarina with a view to encouraging the take-up of dancing.

My own commitment to dancing did a nosedive several months ago when my teacher retired. But I now have a new one who is teaching me the tango.

I hope Arlene succeeds. Dancing is physically demanding, but enjoyable, absorbing and - at least for me - greatly preferable to a treadmill or 20 lengths of the pool.

But whether it is through dancing, swimming, gardening, football, walking or throwing the javelin, she has a very important role in getting the public away from the TV and into physical activity.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable

Nearly £600m has been spent on Criminal Record Checks which look at the backgrounds of people who work with children, it emerged last night, triggering claims the vetting system is in danger of spiralling “out of control”.

There are now concerns that, owing to a combination of rising fees and increasingly laborious bureaucracy, potential volunteers and employees are being deterred from working with children and vulnerable adults.

According to figures released to the Liberal Democrats by the Home Office, the number of Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checks in England and Wales has almost tripled from 1.4 million in 2002-03 to 3.85 million in 2008-09.

The increase in the volume of applications has been matched by the rising cost of processing the background checks, which are paid for by employers, the self-employed and, in the case of volunteers, by the government.

In the past three years, the fee for a “standard” background check has risen by more than a third to £25.18, and for an “enhanced” check – for those in charge of children – by 45%, to £35.21.

The result has been that fees paid for CRB checks have more than trebled, from £41m in 2002-03, when the system was introduced, to £131m in 2008-09. Overall, since the system was created the CRB has charged fees totalling £571m.

  Liberal Democrat Shadow Cabinet Office Secretary, Jenny Willott said: “The government is allowing CRB checking to run out of control.

  “Checking criminal records of people working with children and vulnerable adults is essential. But when the system is so clumsy and costly that it starts putting people off, there is something seriously wrong.”

  The government pledged to tighten the rules governing background checks for those working with children following the murders of the schoolgirls Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells by their school’s janitor, Ian Huntley, in 2002.

  But now there are concerns that employers, charities and organisations are being penalised by an overly bureaucratic public protection system at a time when there is a shortage of people working with children and vulnerable people.

The increased number of applications for background checks has created delays in processing job applications. In 2008-09, nearly 400,000 people had to wait more than a month for their enhanced check, more than double the previous year.

The revelations are likely to provide further ammunition for critics who accuse the government of heavy-handed public protection measures. The Liberal Democrat Peer, Baroness Neuberger has accused the government of “trying to create a risk-free society, which we know in our heads and our hearts is impossible”.

Jenny Willott said she had become concerned about the issue of CRB checks when approached by a constituent, a supply teacher, who needed a CRB check carried out each time she worked for a new local authority.

“Under the current system, job applicants and volunteers can be forced to pay for several identical CRB checks at any one time just because they are applying for more than one job,” Jenny Willott said.

“Despite the CRB’s apparent efficiency savings, the fees for CRB checks have gone through the roof. Delays in the system are getting worse, causing many to miss out on a job offers because their CRB check hasn’t come through in time.”

The UK is heading for an obesity epidemic; new evidence has emerged of a “bulge generation” with a 300 per cent rise in the most extreme cases of obesity among adults in their twenties.

Record numbers of people are being sent to hospital for weight-loss surgery or treatment for conditions directly triggered by their weight new Government figures have disclosed.

With the sharpest rise among those aged 18 to 30, experts warned that “yesterday’s teenagers,” brought up on junk food and binge drinking, were facing horrific consequences from lifestyles which had got out of control.

In five years, the total numbers of people admitted to hospital as a direct result of obesity rose by 190 per cent, with 5,056 admissions in 2007/8.

Figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats show that among adults aged between 18 and 30, cases rose by 340 per cent, with 444 such admissions in 2007/2008.

Around half of the patients were given bariatric surgery, involving gastric bands and stomach stapling.

The remainder were treated for conditions, such as severe back pain, which were directly linked to excess weight carried.

More than 800 children were admitted to hospital because of their weight, the figures showed, a rise of 34 per cent in five years.

Tam Fry, from charity the National Obesity Forum, warned that the extreme obesity seen in today’s 18 - 30s was a consequence of poor lifestyle choices, which meant today’s adolescents are likely to fare worse as they grow up.

Mr Fry said: “This absolutely horrendous rise shows what happens as yesterday’s adolescents bring their bad habits - junk food, lack of exercise, binge drinking - into adulthood.”

Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb described the statistics as “utterly shocking”. He said: “These incredibly steep rises relate to the most extreme end of the obesity scale.

“The pattern among young people is particularly alarming because of what it shows about the problem ahead – not just for the individuals involved, but for the NHS which will be bankrupted by the costs of obesity unless there is drastic action.”

International research shows the average child in the West is 9 lbs heavier than one who grew up in the 1970s, and consumes 350 calories more each day.

Data for this country shows that one in three children are overweight or obese by the time they start secondary school.

The new figures disclosed by the Department of Health show that in total; more than 14,320 “hospital bed days” were used by patients who were admitted because of their weight - an 84 per cent rise in five years.

Two thirds of those treated were women. Millions more were treated for conditions which can be exacerbated by weight gain, such as diabetes, or cardiac problems, but where obesity was not the primary diagnosis.

Government projections show that if current trends continue, nine out of 10 men will be overweight within 15 years, and at least half the population obese within 25 years.

The problem is forecast to cripple NHS resources, with spending linked to obesity predicted to triple in less than a decade, and to rise sevenfold by 2050.

Work is due to start mid September on the bridge which links East Marsh and West Marsh Ward, and carries the A180 over the railway line at the Riby Square/Freeman Street junction to Lockhill roundabout.

The work involves replacing the existing asphaltic movement joints on the westbound carriageway of the bridge, which have come to the end of their useful life.

It is anticipated that the work will take two weeks to complete with 24 hour working throughout the contract period.

Contra flow traffic management will be in place on the eastbound carriageway while the work is carried out. 

Riby Square will be closed to traffic with a local diversion via Riby Street and Humber Street. 

Freeman Street junction will be partially closed with traffic being diverted via Kent Street. ABP will be operating security checks to ensure traffic heading for Cleethorpes does not use the docks as a thoroughfare during the contract period.

North East Lincolnshire Council apologises for any inconvenience caused, but this work is essential to ensure the long term serviceability of the bridge and the safety of the travelling public.

Around 120 jobs for young people will be created in North East Lincolnshire following the announcement that Hull and the Humber is set to receive substantial funding from the Government’s Future Jobs Fund. 

The funding will potentially see around £1.5m heading to North East Lincolnshire to create jobs for 18-25 year olds as part of a larger package for the Hull and the Humber region. 

The job creation will focus on ‘hotspot’ areas, providing jobs where they are needed the most. The new job opportunities will target those who have been out of work for more than a year or are in danger of becoming long-term unemployed. 

The successful Future Jobs Fund bid, announced on Wednesday, July 29, will provide a much-needed boost for the jobs market in the region. 

The work on offer will see posts created in community settings, social enterprises and new and emerging sectors. 

The jobs, which will also provide wider community benefits, will include environmental posts, construction, social care and administration roles. 

As part of the terms of the funding, the jobs are guaranteed to last a minimum of six months.

The successful bid was submitted by the Humber Economic Partnership (HEP) on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council, North Lincolnshire Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, Hull City Council and a range of voluntary and community sector partners. 

The Future Jobs Fund totals £1bn to be allocated over two years and is being administered by the Department of Work and Pensions. 

HEP was one of six successful Yorkshire bidders in this first round of funding and around 1,500 jobs are expected to be created across Yorkshire. 

Of the 117 bids, 62 were local authority-led.

Recently, it was announced that the Ministry of Defence appears to have lost £6.6billion of vital military equipment, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey is quoted in my previous article on this site.

A damning report by spending watchdog the National Audit Office has revealed there was no evidence of paperwork to say that any of the kit, including vehicles, weapons and radios, even existed.

It was thought to include £1.25billion of machine guns, £155million of radios, night vision goggles and body armour.

Also apparently missing was more than £5billion of raw materials and spare parts for kit and vehicles.Almost as alarming, the MoD’s payroll system was found to have made £268million of wrong payments to soldiers.

The extraordinary findings come amid long-running accusations over troops struggling on the front line in Afghanistan without the correct equipment.

However, today the Grimsby Telegraph have published a remarkable story about an Army Surplus Store which is located on Freeman Street in the heart of the East Marsh Ward, Grimsby that has regularly been selling equipment to our troops.

The newspaper claims that many of our troops are paying decent kit out of their own pocket, and locally our troops are using their own cash to purchase goods from the Freeman Street shop.

They may not be essential; however they are items that may enhance their comfort, such as lighter weight boots. The local Labour MP has promised to take up the troops concerns, but surely this should not be happening in the first place – we live in a civilised society, and we should be supporting and looking after our troops.

A local man, currently serving in the Royal Artillery, who wishes to remain anonymous, said he often bought his own kit.

He said: “I buy my own things. Everyone does to make life easier. It’s down down to the individuals and what they prefer.

“I’ve bought webbing (equipment belt), sleeping bags, things that make my job easier at the end of the day. Why carry more weight than you need to?”

A MOD spokeswoman said: “Since 2006, we have delivered equipment valued at more than £10-billion to the Armed Forces and we have done a lot in the last two years to ensure that Operational Commanders have a variety of vehicles at their disposal.

“We give priority to equipping people on, and training for, operations but also ensure that we provide the necessary core capabilities for our forces over the longer term.

“Our troops are as well-equipped for their own personal protection and for engaging in fighting as any in the world.”

Perhaps if the Ministry of Defence had not lost the £6.6billion of vital military equipment, then perhaps there would be no need for our troops to be purchasing this enhanced equipment – they would have the very best.

  Commenting on reports that the MoD was unable to account for over £6bn of hardware, including machine guns, fighting vehicles and body armour, Liberal Democrat Shadow Defence Secretary, Nick Harvey says: “The incompetence of Bob Ainsworth’s department is beyond belief. How can it be possible to plan with this kind of black hole in the accounting? One has to wonder whether the MoD is any longer fit for purpose.

  “The huge, multi-billion pound value of the mislaid equipment is bad enough. But, worse still, it appears to include kit that is of vital importance to our troops on the front line in Afghanistan. Shortages are bad enough already without Government bungling meaning that fighting vehicles, machine guns and body armour may not be getting to where they are needed.

“The Defence Secretary needs to get a grip. Ineptitude on this scale is bad enough at the best of times, but when it risks endangering the safety of our frontline troops it becomes a dereliction of duty.”

Two Grimsby, Liberal Democrat Councillors have turned to social networking to keep residents up to date with the state of their ward – with great success.

Councillor Les Bonner (Lib Dem, Yarborough) and Councillor Steve Beasant (Lib Dem, East Marsh) have their own blogs and also use Twitter and Facebook.

The last few months councillors have seen record numbers hitting their sites with well over 50,000 hits a month on each blog, and have scores of Twitter followers and Facebook friends from residents of their ward.

Councillor Beasant’s site was recently named the top website by Liberal Democrat Voice, beating the influential Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader, Vincent Cable into second place, based on the number of hits that were diverted from his through to the national Lib Dem website.

Councillor Bonner’s blog has recently passed the 500,000 hit mark, having only started 18 months ago.

He also has 62 Facebook friends from his ward.

And the duo believe it is the way forward in order for councillors to keep in touch with their residents.

Councillor Bonner said: “My blog is a useful way of communicating with people within the ward.

“I use it to comment on items local news and any interesting things that are going on in the ward and, sometimes, nationally.

“For instance, for things such as forthcoming road works in my ward, I can notify residents on the blog.

“I get quite a lot of comments from people – I am pleased how successful it has been.

“Many constituents contact me through it. I have also been contacted by researchers and academics, press reporters from Poland and Germany and by Government department.

“I recently attended a meeting on crime prevention which took place in Leeds, where I met a colleague from

“I think councillors should be encouraged to do the same – it amazes me that, even now, some MPs refuse to e-mails.”

Councillor Beasant uses blog in much the same way and is rather more active on Twitter – a networking site that allows the user to constantly update what is they are doing, which can be used seen by anybody who signs up to follow them.

He said: “I have started to have a bit of fun with my updates lately.

“It is enjoyable way to keep people up to date with what is happening both within the ward and on the national political scene – naturally I will give my stories a Liberal Democrat spin because I am constantly campaigning for the party, day in and day out.

“I started in July last year and it’s gone from strength-to-strength.

“Me and Les talk about blog and it has now become a bit of blogging war between us – in a light hearted way.

“In all seriousness, however, it is something that I enjoy doing and it keeps residents of my ward aware what I am doing, hopefully for the good of the area.”

To visit Councillor Beasant’s blog, click here.

To visit Councillor Bonner’s, click here.

  Gordon Brown has pledged to build three million new homes by 2020, but house-building has collapsed as a result of the recession. It is now believed that this target is unachievable without drastic action.

  However, figures obtained by the Liberal Democrat Shadow Housing Minister, Sarah Teather show that the Government owns 3,100 hectares of surplus land – an area equivalent in size to the Berkshire town of Slough.

  Separate figures kept by the Ministry of Defence show that the military owns another 1,585 hectares of empty land suitable for housing.

  Under Government guidelines, land with housing on it can be sold within six months of falling empty, but may be left for three years if it does not contain property.

There are currently nearly 2 million people on housing waiting lists, but the level of new builds stood at just over 90,000 in the last financial year, compared to 156,000 the year before.

Sarah Teather said: “With 1.8 million families stranded on the housing waiting list, it is completely unacceptable that the Government is sitting on so much land that has already been designated for housing.

“Ministers need to do a thorough audit of the surplus lands in their departments and work out what could be used to benefit homeless families.”

The figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrats in a series of written parliamentary answers, show that the Department for Transport owns the most surplus land, at 753 hectares, followed by the Department for Communities, with 242, and the Department for the Environment, which has 115 hectares.

Sarah Teather questioned whether ministers were holding on to land while house and land prices were low, but added: “The Government need to get their priorities right.

“It’s important to get a good price for surplus land, but this needs to be balanced against the social value of building new homes.

“Land shouldn’t sit empty for years on end if there are people with nowhere to live.

“We have a unique opportunity to build much needed new social and affordable homes, boost the struggling construction industry, and protect future generations from the misery of temporary accommodation.”

MORE and more people are turning to volunteering to help them gain new skills and experience, giving them the edge when applying for a new job. 

Voluntary Action North East Lincolnshire (VANEL) manages North East Lincolnshire’s volunteer centre. 

They have hundreds of volunteering opportunities for people who are keen to learn new skills, gain experience after completing formal training or just want to give something back to the community. 

“Volunteering is ideal for anyone who is looking to improve their CV to give them an advantage for job interview,” said John Mooney, manager of VANEL. 

“It is a great way to meet new people and gain confidence. 

“It is also a great way of changing career direction and helps you to network with the right people when looking for work. 

“Volunteers are able to talk confidently about their skills in an interview and can give you the edge over other applicants.” 

VANEL receives support from the council and has 181 organisations in the borough on their books, including the British Heart Foundation, Tukes Café, VOX a young person’s magazine project and the youth service. 

John added: “There is an organisation and an opportunity to suit most people and we also offer support and guidance to people who are looking to set up their own community group and apply for funding. 

“We have seen an increase lately in the numbers of people volunteering as more people are looking for different routes back in to work. 

“Volunteering is a great way to try your hand at a new skill and get some direct experience in something you wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to try.” 

Twenty three million people volunteer in the UK every year. Michael Svendsen, age 20 and from Grimsby, is one of these people. He has recently started work as a volunteer at a sports club in Cleethorpes after contacting VANEL. 

Michael said: “I have been out of work since January after being made redundant. I applied for several voluntary jobs online, mainly in sports coaching as I used to be in a football team and I’m a qualified gym instructor. 

“I wanted to gain experience working with other people and be doing something with my time. I hope the new skills I learn will eventually lead to a job.” 

Michael receives support from Dave Londs, a youth development worker for VANEL. Dave previously worked as a volunteer for the youth offending service and the experience he gained helped him to secure a job working for VANEL. 

Dave said: “The experience I gained and the people I met opened up opportunities I wouldn’t have previously had. 

“Through my volunteering job I was able to benefit from courses and training, which looked great on my CV. 

“To benefit from paid training in your volunteering job you have to commit longterm, but it’s worth it and I get a great deal of satisfaction out of my new job for VANEL.”

David Cameron is trying to modernise the Conservative, but true to form they are just the same old Tories.

Mr Cameron is quickly losing is grip on the party, first it was Alan Duncan who claimed that MPs are “living on rations”, then we’ve had the MEP, Daniel Hannan who claimed that the NHS was “60-year mistake” and we’ve also had Sir Patrick Cormack claiming that MPs pay should be doubled.

But, then there was more and it’s getting worse; the Chairman of Gosport, Alan Scard who’s Conservative Association in Hampshire, is selecting a candidate to replace Sir Peter Viggers as the local MP at the next election.

Sir Peter announced that he would quit Parliament after The Daily Telegraph disclosed he had attempted to claim £1,645 in parliamentary expenses for a floating duck house.

Asked whether he was happy to support efforts by David Cameron, the Conservative leader, to put more women in Parliament, Mr Scard said: “If they are attractive, yeah I would go for it.”

“I know it’s a sexist thing to say,” Mr Scard told Channel 4 News, “but you could get the blokes saying ‘Oh you know, I would vote for her because she’s really attractive’.”

However, on reflection, he added: “But then the other women say ‘Oh I don’t like her, she’s too attractive’.”

The comments are likely to cause embarrassment for Mr Cameron. They led to further claims that large sections of his party continue to have outdated, politically incorrect views and do not share his “liberal Conservativism”.

Mr Scard also delivered a warning to Mr Cameron that he risked alienating his core support if he overlooked the views of local party activists.

“All I would say to him is be very careful … Unless you take the grassroots with you, you are on a losing streak,” he said. “So I would just sort of say just sometimes back off just a little bit.”

Sir Peter, who served as a junior minister under Margaret Thatcher, has been the MP in Gosport for 35 years. However his career was ended prematurely by the disclosure that he had tried to claim £1,645 for the floating duck house.

The finding attracted intense media coverage and became the most memorable of this newspaper’s investigation into MPs’ expenses. Sir Peter announced he would resign and apologised for a “ridiculous and grave error of judgment”.

Mr Scard later apologised, saying: “This was a tongue in cheek comment and I apologise unreservedly if it’s caused any offence. As a proud parent of two girls the last thing I would ever want to do is say something sexist.”

Liberal Democrat MP for East Dunbartonshire, Jo Swinson commented on twitter: “Behind the duckhouses they’re still the same old Tories - stuck in a sexist time-warp.”

Market stall holders are wanted - with a maritime flair.

Organisers of the Cleethorpes Clipper weekend in the resort are hosting a maritime market and fairground on Saturday, September 12 and Sunday, September 13.

The events are scheduled to run from 10am til late on both days.

Visitors will be able to take advantage of all Cleethorpes has to offer and witness boats leaving the Humber just before the start of the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race 09-10.

The race is due to start on the north bank at 2pm on Sunday, September 13, and the resort offers an excellent vantage point from the south bank see the Clippers in action.

There will also be a fairground and train rides to attract all ages to the resort.

The market will be one of a host of attractions taking place to ensure the race, which features a Hull & Humber yacht, gets off to a flying start.

Anyone who is interested in booking a stall for the market, which takes place in the resort’s Lower Kingsway area, should contact Chris Wardle on (01472) 324692 or by email at chris.wardle@nelincs.gov.uk.

Councillor Colin Eastwell, the council’s portfolio holder for neighbourhoods and tourism, said: “We are expecting significant numbers of visitors in our wonderful resort over the weekend.

“The Clipper 09-10 race is of worldwide repute and will be taking the name of North East Lincolnshire to all four corners of the globe.

“We have some wonderful amenities here, and it is only right and fitting that the resort puts on a real showcase of events to mark the start of this memorable event.” Parking for the weekend is available at North Promenade, Central Promenade, Grant Street, St Peters Avenue, High Street, Cleethorpes Leisure Centre, close to the Road Train pick up point, boating lake, Thrunscoe and Meridian Point.For more details of Clipper events in North East Lincolnshire, go to www.nelincs.gov.uk and follow the link to our dedicated Clipper page.

The Meridian Park events arena, is a 5,000 capacity outdoor venue situated on Kings Road Cleethorpes and is managed by Live Nation.

Saturday 29th August 2009

Classical Concert with the Manchester Camerata, guest soloists and fireworks display.

Returning by popular demand, the Manchester Camerata will take centre stage at the Meridian park with an evening of classical music. The popularity of Meridian Classical continues to grow year-on-year and is fast becoming Cleethorpes very own proms.

The evening also presents guest soloist Annette Wardell and additional special guests yet to be confirmed.

Manchester Camerata have been presenting live music for over thirty-five years and have established an enviable reputation as an orchestra which delivers high quality concerts in a refreshingly relaxed and friendly atmopshere.

Conducting the 54 piece orchestra is Roderick Dunk, who presents a varied astronomy related music programme, blending classical and traditional music finishing with a rousing finale in the traditional style of “Last Night of the Proms”

The year’s classical programme include: Planets (Mars & Jupiter), Star Wars Suite (Princess Leia & Main Titles), E.T, Adventures on Earth, Clare de Lune, Music of the Spheres Waltz (Johann Strauss), Star Trek through the years (arr Custer) and patriotic favourites Rule Britannia, Pomp and Circumstance No 1 (Soprano).

This ties in with the national anniversary of 125 years since Greenwich was selecred as the Prime Meridian, Cleethorpes has a strong connection here as we famously have a steel plate set in the Cleethorpes Coastal Path which marks the line of the Greenwich Meridian.

The open-air evening of wonderful music and entertainment end the night with a spectacular firework display.

View Details about the Classical Concert (Adobe PDF, 1.3mb)

Advance Ticket: £20, On the Day: £22, Gates: 5:30pm.

Libraries in North East Lincolnshire have launched a new interactive service where readers can join Facebook group to discuss books and exchange their views.

North East Lincolnshire Libraries online book club has been launched in August. Our libraries stay in touch with the latest trends in social networking and make the most of the impact the internet provides.

Thanks to Facebook people will be able to chat about the books they have read even if they can not participate in regular discussion groups organised by our local libraries.

Councillor Steve Hocknell, portfolio holder for leisure, culture and healthier communities, said: “Facebook discussion group is an excellent way of engaging people in reading and talking about books. Nowadays, we can’t turn our back to technology and using social networking webpage to encourage readership is the way forward.”The first book discussed online will be “

The Tenth Case” by Joseph Teller. Copies are available in local libraries on first come, first served basis.

If you need more information call Grimsby Library on 01472 323600 or email eva.marshall@nelincs.gov.uk

  Every child deserves the right to a happy life free from the fear of violence and abuse yet tragic cases have highlighted the fact that current policies are failing. 

  The issue of child protection has climbed further up the public agenda over recent months; as a result the Liberal Democrats have compiled a robust and considered response. Annette Brooke, Shadow Children’s Spokesperson, and local government colleagues have come together to produce a paper to be debated at the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in September.

  A key theme running through the paper is the belief that safeguarding is everybody’s business. Whilst professionals working with children need more support, better training and increased development opportunities, there has been too much buck-passing which has sometimes had tragic consequences. The paper therefore calls for a campaign to raise the issue of child protection and remind everyone of their responsibility. Every child has the right to be happy and the whole of society has a key role to play in ensuring that this happens. 

The paper considers ways in which the shortage of social workers could be tackled, not just by raising the status of the profession, but also from learning from the teaching profession. We have also looked at how inexperienced social workers could be better supported. Importantly we have also suggested ways in which all professionals involved in child protection could be working together in a better way and develop a true understanding of one another’s roles.

To view a full copy of the paper, please click here.

Suspected violent partners or stalkers could be given restraining orders even if they are cleared of offences, under new powers. The new powers have been given a cautious welcome, and it is hoped that if they are used effectively that they will send out a powerful message to local communities.

From next month, courts will have the power to impose the orders at the end of cases, regardless of whether the individual is convicted or not.

The aim is to give greater powers to deal with those suspected of domestic violence as well as those convicted.

At the moment only those guilty of two distinct offences – harassment or putting someone in fear of violence – can be given a restraining order, otherwise victims have to pursue similar orders through the civil courts.

Judges will now be able to approve an order following any offence and if they are acquitted but the court feels there remains sufficient evidence to require restraint.

The powers were supposed to come in to effect two years ago but were postponed amid fears it could add to the then overcrowded prison population.

Breaking the terms of an order can lead to a jail term of up to five years.

Lord West, the Home Office minister said: “Domestic violence is a devastating crime which impacts across all communities.

“The additional powers will also help victims in need of immediate protection and spare them the need to take separate civil action.”

Nicola Harwin, chief executive of Women’s Aid, said: “We must improve protection for those affected by abuse. These restraining orders will provide a valuable new tool to help protect victims.”

But the move, which comes in to effect from September 30, has raised some concerns.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson, Paul Holmes said: “It is vitally important that victims of domestic violence are protected from harassment but the Government, as always, has been tempted to go a step further.

“It is surely a step too far to make restraining orders available for every single offence on the statute book. And putting them on people acquitted of crimes blurs the line between innocence and guilt.”

  Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats today sent his message to Muslims observing Ramadan.

  “As Ramadan comes round once more, I’d like to wish all Muslims observing the month my very best wishes.

  I have learned from working with Muslim communities across the UK – and indeed from the many Lib Dem councillors and candidates who are practising Muslims - that the fasting and Qur’an reading during Ramadan provide spiritual renewal and enlightenment. As friends and family are brought together every night, we also reflect on all the millions of people around the world who still go without food and clean water every day.

We in the Liberal Democrats have always championed religious tolerance, and we are proud of the diverse traditions in our country.

We recognise the importance of the principle of Zakat to Muslims, especially at this time, and I deeply regret that Islam can be unfairly portrayed in many parts of the media especially when Muslim communities in this country do so much excellent charitable work.

I congratulate Muslims for the volunteering and donations they make during the month of Ramadan and at other times, and, more broadly, to thank British Muslims for the enormous contribution they make to life in this country.

Ramadan Mubarak!”

Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats

You might think the stress of a failing economy would lead more people to smoke, but historically financial downturns have made people smoke less. 

Research released to mark No Smoking Day (March 11) showed that 36 per cent of the nine million smokers in Great Britain were thinking about or planning to cut down or quit as a direct result of the economic downturn. The poll also showed that 9 per cent intended to take the first step and make a quit attempt on that day. 

Greg Gilbert, Smokefree Alliance coordinator at the council, said: “Lately, most smokers have been talking about the high price of cigarettes during this recessionary time. They talk about switching brands, moving from 20s to 10s and cutting back just enough to save a few pence a day. They also talk regularly about where the deals are this week - supermarket versus corner shop, and so on. 

“For smokers, who can spend over £2,000 a year on cigarettes, it’s particularly tough, so for those who are ready to quit there has never been a better time. 

“Giving up cigarettes will boost bank balances - but the health benefits are even greater, including easier breathing, improved fitness and healthier hair, nails and skin. Quitters also notice they have more energy after only a matter of days.”