Lib Dem Pupil Premium – A Message from Nick Clegg
Wednesday, May 16th, 2012 by aldcadmin
For me, nothing better illustrates the Liberal Democrat mission to make Britain a fairer place than our Pupil Premium: extra money for the most disadvantaged children in our schools.

We are letting schools decide the best way to spend this money.  I want to strike a deal with our schools and teachers: we’ll give you the cash, the freedom, and we’ll reward and celebrate your success.  But in return, we want you to redouble your efforts to close the gap between your poorer pupils and everyone else.  We won’t be telling you what to do; but we will be watching what you achieve.

(Click picture to play video)

It is shameful that, despite all the promise on a four or five year old’s first day at school, or the passion of their teachers, you can all too often plot that child’s path just by asking how much their parents earn.

The £2.5billion Pupil Premium was one of the four pledges on the front page of our manifesto.  And now, with Liberal Democrats in government, schools are using the money for things like breakfast clubs; homework clubs; or to provide one-to-one-tuition. These are the sort of experiences many middle class children take for granted but a poorer child might rarely enjoy.

Yesterday I visited a fantastic primary school to see how they are spending their Pupil Premium, highlight our new Summer Schools to ease the transition from primary to secondary, and to set out our plans to reward teachers and hold schools to account.

The Pupil Premium shows that, in tough times, we are implementing Liberal Democrat values and prioritising help for those pupils who need it most.

Best wishes,

Nick Clegg MP

Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Deputy Prime Minister

PS Click here to find out how much money your local school will receive from the Liberal Democrats’ Pupil Premium.

Be Clear on Cancer – National Lung Cancer Awareness Campaign
Wednesday, May 9th, 2012 by aldcadmin

This week, Paul Burstow (Liberal Democrat minister at the Department of Health) has launched a national £4 million lung cancer awareness campaign. The campaign, the first of its kind, will use TV, radio and press adverts, and advertising on pharmacist bags and inside GP surgeries, to raise awareness of the disease.

One of its aims is to persuade anyone who has had a cough for more than three weeks to see their doctor.

You can find more information about coughing and lung cancer at the Department of Health website, here: http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/2012/05/coughing-could-be-a-sign-of-lung-cancer-2/

With 33,000 new cases diagnosed each year, lung cancer is a blight on the lives of far too many of our families and an early diagnosis can make all the difference. Please take the opportunity of the Be Clear on Cancer campaign to find out more about prevention and diagnosis, and to visit your local doctor if you’ve had a persistent cough – it is always better to be safe than sorry!

http://www.dh.gov.uk/health/tag/be-clear-on-cancer/

I WON! Thank you Goldsworth East!
Posted May 5, 2012 * Comments(0)

I just want to say a very personal thank you to all Goldsworth East residents for supporting me in my successful re-election to the Council. I am humbled for being given a second chance to represent you after just one year on the Council. I am very grateful and I hope I make you proud by working even harder for you over the next four years. You can see the full Woking election results at this link here.

WHAT AMANDA HAS ACHIEVED IN ONE YEAR!
Posted April 20, 2012 * Comments(0)

I was elected as your Councillor in Goldsworth East last year on 5th May 2011. In that time, I hope that I have proven myself to you and I hope that you will re-elect me on Thursday 3rd May 2012. Here is a photo montage reminder of what I have done over the last year.

To those of you who will be voting by post, please remember that your postal votes will be landing on your doormat in the next day or two. Please remember to vote and post them off as soon as possible.


AMANDA LAMBASTS THAMESWEY FOR TREATMENT OF LAKEVIEW TREES
Posted April 20, 2012 * Comments(0)

Notice the tyre tracks right next to the newly-planted fruit tree!

Two weeks ago I was extremely shocked to hear that Thameswey Solar subcontractors had parked their vehicles perilously close to some of the 20 trees planted by Lakeview residents only two days before! They were there to install solar panels on the council properties nearby. I went to investigate and the photograph speaks for itself. Ignoring residents’ requests, it took 48 hours of nagging council officers to remove their vehicles!

I was so angry that I asked the following question at the Full Council meeting this last Monday 16th April:

“I know that Thameswey Developments Limited (TDL) often subcontracts out parts of their construction work. What penalties or monitoring does TDL and/or the Council do of any work undertaken by subcontractors to ensure these subcontractors not only respect the Council property they are working on, but also adhere to the high standards we expect of our subcontractors in dealing with the public, Councillors and property (private/public) surrounding the worksites?” 

The answer I received was typically bureaucratic:

“All contractors on Thameswey and Woking Borough Council sites where the contract value exceeds £50,000 are expected to register with the Considerate Constructors Scheme to be monitored by experienced industry professionals to assess their performance against an eight point Site Code of Considerate Practice, which includes the categories: Considerate; Environment; Appearance; Good Neighbour; Respectful; Safety; Responsible; and Accountable (http://www.ccscheme.org.uk/index.php).”

Thameswey Solar vehicles parked right next to the trees!

Thameswey Solar clearly failed all eight points of the Code and the Tories looked pretty red-faced after seeing the photographs I presented during my supplementary question below:

“Aren’t we therefore too leniant with these subcontractors and can we ensure that our management contracts reflect our zero tolerance to unacceptable and disrespectful behaviour of not only the solar panel subcontractors but all Thameswey subcontractors.”

The Tory Council Leader could not apologise enough. We cannot allow these subcontractors to disrespect the hard work Lakeview residents put in to plant these fruit trees, especially when one of them was planted by the Mayor and our MP!


No Lib Dem Council Has Raised Council Tax – Tim Farron
Tuesday, April 17th, 2012 by aldcadmin

Official reports have confirmed that no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has increased council tax for their residents. This is unlike both other major parties, many of which are increasing council tax by up to 3.5% this year.

Commenting on Labour and Conservative councils’ record on Council Tax, Liberal Democrat Party President, Tim Farron said:

“While Labour and the Tories fight over how many of their councils raised Council Tax, it’s clear that with the Liberal Democrats your money is safest: no Liberal Democrat-run council in England has raised Council Tax.

“Ordinary working families are struggling already with paying bills, without their councils increasing the burden.

“The choice in next month’s elections is clear: vote Liberal Democrat for financially responsible councils that create jobs. Vote Labour and the Tories for waste, mismanagement and tax rises.”

As well as freezing council tax across the country, Liberal Democrat councils are protecting front-line services, fighting to keep libraries and Sure Start centres open. This is in addition to the achievements of the Liberal Democrats in government, which after the Budget include a £130 income tax cut for all working families, the largest-ever rise in the basic state pension, an increase in child tax credits for the poorest families, and an increase in the Lib Dem Pupil Premium to £600 for every pupil receiving Free School Meals.

At every level of government, the Liberal Democrats are cutting taxes for low- and middle-earners and better targeting help to those that need it the most. It is a record of financial responsibility of which we can be proud.


CRISIS AVERTED BY AMANDA IN LAKEVIEW
Posted April 15, 2012 * Comments(0)

Denise thanks Amanda for helping her in a crisis on Good Friday night

On Good Friday night at 9:15pm, I was phoned by a distressed resident from French’s Wells in Lakeview. The power to her flat and those of her neighbours in the block of 8 flats had gone. The power had gone off at 5pm and she was left with no heating, no lighting and the security doors to her block of flats were not working.

To make matters worse, the new housing management company, New Vision Homes, had not reassured Denise, the resident, that the power would be restored or when an engineer would be called to fix the problem. Instead she was kept on the line for 40 minutes before the New Vision Homes Call Centre answered her call, only to tell her that they could not raise the emergency electrician because his phone was on voicemail. After Denise rang me at 9:15pm, I then tried calling the 24/7 Call Centre and I was kept on the phone for 22 minutes before I received an answer! By this time, I was very angry and only then did some action take place to help my distressed residents.

My husband and I immediately decided to drive out to French’s Wells to see the problem for ourselves and to check that my residents were ok. They live in a block for vulnerable residents and I called the police to keep an eye on the block while the security doors were not working. I was very grateful to the police for going along to monitor that they were all ok.

When I arrived at the block, the engineers had arrived and had already started working on the problem. But what astonished me was that the engineers had only received the call to fix the power to the flats FOUR HOURS after it was first reported by Denise! To make matters worse, they only heard about it when they phoned the call centre to check what work they had for the evening!

After some initial investigation, it turned out that the brand new PDA phones issued by New Vision Homes to the engineers were not working properly! This is why they did not receive the call to help my residents’ plight! I was so upset that I rang the Managing Director of New Vision Homes on his mobile and organised an urgent meeting on Tuesday this week to ensure that this does not happen again and that the Call Centre was far more responsive. The Managing Director could not apologise enough and his internal investigations unravelled what happened on Good Friday night. He e-mailed the following to me:

“Please accept my apologies for the call handling delays at Pinnacle Connect on Good Friday. I have been in touch with my colleague, the Business Manager at Pinnacle Connect regarding the issue. She has advised me that the problems there were this weekend were due to essential maintenance work that had to be carried out on their phone system. Clearly it could not have happened at a more unfortunate time as it was the both the start of the Easter weekend and the first full weekend of our out of hours service.

“The delays to the call handling arose because Connect were badly let down by their telephone system supplier. They had advised that the upgrades had been fully tested and they would not disrupt the service.

“Although we do not envisage any further issues with the telephony system at Pinnacle Connect in the event that a repairs operative cannot get through the senior repairs operative can ring either a priority line or the Pinnacle Connect supervisor’s duty mobile.

PDA Mobile Devices

“If there is a problem with a mobile device Pinnacle Connect can escalate the issue by contacting a senior operative to resolve the issue. This is what happened on Friday and ensured an operative attended despite being unable to contact the on call operative on his mobile device. During the first few weeks of the contract, the use of the WBC mobiles has been retained. Beyond this period they will have alternative numbers Connect can use to contact them.”

On Good Friday night, we remained at French’s Wells until 11:30pm when we were happy that the power to the block of flats would be restored. The boiler engineer and electrician called me at 11:52pm to tell me that the power had been fully restored. Let’s hope that I will not have to go out late on an evening again to sort out a communication mess by New Vision Homes. The Managing Director has reassured me that anyone who calls the 24/7 Call Centre 0300 number will receive a timeous response within 5 minutes so that residents are not distressed unnecessarily in future. 

Please contact me if you have any problem you are experiencing with the Council or any of the companies who work for the Council and local residents. We all deserve an excellent service and I will ensure that the Council and New Vision Homes are kept on their toes.


Local Elections 2012 – Video
Wednesday, April 11th, 2012 by aldcadmin

A first look at part of this week’s Liberal Democrat Local Election Broadcast. This clip looks at our key pledge to cut taxes for working families, and celebrates the fact that Liberal Democrats in government have achieved:

  • The biggest-ever single uplift in the tax-free personal allowance
  • A £3.5 billion tax cut for working men and women
  • 840,000 of the lowest earners in the country lifted completely out of paying Income Tax

Next year, the allowance increases again (to £9,205) – within touching distance of our manifesto promise to increase the Income Tax threshold to £10,000.

These are all significant achievements that are already making a difference for millions of hard-working men and women across Britain. Real change for real families in tough times – promised and delivered by the Liberal Democrats.

FRUIT TREE PLANTING IN LAKEVIEW
Posted April 5, 2012 * Comments(0)

Amanda tree planting with local volunteers in Lakeview

Last Saturday (31st March) I had the rare privilege of joining in the Lakeview Community Action Group’s fruit tree planting day. Community Orchards are a great way to build communities and improve the quality of life for everyone in the neighbourhood.  Some of the benefits of a Community Orchard are:

  • Bringing people together for planting
  • Providing fruit and improve diet for healthy living
  • Teaching food and plant growing awareness
  • Providing a habitat for wildlife
  • Providing shelter and shade
  • Making the urban landscape more relaxed and enjoyable

With the help of the Council, SERCO and an army of volunteers from the local community, we managed to plant a total of 20 trees consisting of different fruit varieties including apple and plum in the Hartshill Walk green space and certain courtyards in Lakeview. I was very pleased that both our MP and the Woking Mayor joined in the tree planting by planting a fruit tree in memory of well-known resident, Heatherann Weaver. The Mayor, Cllr Ken Howard read out this dedication in her memory:

“I would like to dedicate this first tree here in the Lakeview Community Orchard to the memory of a well known local resident, Heatherann Weaver.  Her dedication to community work in Lakeview has been an inspiration to everyone who knew her.

The Lakeview Community Action Group, the Lakeview residents and all the volunteers here today, serve as the inspiration for this orchard to celebrate the hard work by all the local community champions to improve Lakeview.

I hope these trees provide the inspiration for all the local residents to reap the fruit of ‘community spirit’ for many years to come.”

Yesterday (4 April) I visited the area to have a look at how the fruit trees are getting on and I was thrilled to see that they are beginning to flower. May they last for many years to come and provide fruit for all Lakeview residents to enjoy.


SUCCESS! MORRISONS TRAFFIC CHAOS UPDATE
Posted April 5, 2012 * Comments(0)

Amanda standing at the Goldsworth Road roundabout where traffic chaos occurred

On Thursday, 8th March, over 100 shoppers were stuck in their cars in Morrisons car park for up to 3 hours.  The gridlock was caused by roadworks sanctioned by Surrey County Council (SCC) on the Goldsworth Road roundabout leading to Morrisons.

The roadworks caused such a disruption that customers were trapped in the Morrison’s car park for hours, with nobody being able to leave. Late into the incident, Morrisons’ staff did try to regulate vehicles entering the site and also started handing out water to trapped motorists. They also refunded customers for frozen food that had thawed as a result of the delay. The situation only eased when the Surrey County Council contractor, May Gurney, switched off the temporary traffic lights.

I managed to call on Surrey Highways and Morrisons to attend a Council Meeting on the 19th March to explain what happened and what would be done to avoid this chaos in future. I not only secured a public apology from the Surrey Highways Contract Manager but also a 6-point plan of action to avoid future chaotic roadwork incidents.

This 6-point plan includes:

  • a direct number for businesses like Morrisons to contact Surrey Highways during roadworks,
  • training for contractors on how to communicate with the public with courtesy and respect
  • training for staff on how to handle all possible scenarios as a result of roadwork schemes

Mr Michie, a Woking resident, who was one of the customers stuck in the gridlock said:

“Amanda took up my concerns after I got no response from both the Borough and County Council for an explanation about what happened at Morrisons. She impressed me with her determination to get, not only an explanation, but an apology and future preventative actions implemented by Surrey County Council!” 

When it comes to large institutions such as Royal Mail and County Councils, residents often feel they are not heard or cared about.  I want to reassure Woking residents that, even though I sometimes have to drag these institutions kicking and screaming to be held accountable before the public, I do not believe any institution is above reproach.


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