We really want to know what you think are the issues in Central Bedfordshire – so this is an open question for you to discuss the issues of the day with other users of Let’s Talk Central.
So, whether it’s to let everyone know about something happening in the area, a question you’d like to hear others answer, just post them below!
The Telecare system which is vital for elderly and vulnerable people costs £192,000 a year. There are 60 councillors on Central Beds Council. If they each reduced their allowances by £3,200 we could afford the Telecare system. I wonder how many might like to volunteer?
And that’s before we get to thinking about cutting the salaries of our overpaid senior officers!
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Central Beds have decided to charge for Telecare. Telecare is a service which provides people who are usually elderly or vulnerable with the support to help them lead independent lifestyles. Telecare equipment makes it possible for them to call for help and assistance when needed.
The charge to be levied now is £52.14 per quarter. This will save the Council £192,000 per year. Many local vulnerable people, who are also rate payers, will not be able to afford this charge due to being on a fixed income.
I think this measure is short sighted. If a vulnerable person in our community fell whilst in their home they would be able to call for help but now who knows what will happen. There may even be extra cost for the Council and the local Health Services.
I ask Central Beds to think again on this matter. £192,000 is a drop in the ocean on Central Beds books but if you are a elderly, infirm person or a vulnerable person and your boat is leaky (fixed income) then this drop could become a tip-over situation.
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Mrs Ridgeway, Telecare is an important service to many customers and we want to make sure Telecare continues to be available to everyone who wants it. As more people are taking up the service, the cost of providing it has risen. With enormous pressures on our budget we had to consider the options of introducing charging across the board, to limit the service to those most in need, or increase council tax. We made the decision to introduce charging for Telecare – as many other Councils have already done – in order to be as fair as possible to both customers and taxpayers. Our new charging policy focuses council resources at those who are most vulnerable while still allowing others to access this very useful service at a reasonable cost. The new policy was introduced after extensive consultation with current customers and stakeholder groups.
The majority of customers who receive Telecare in addition to other social care services from Central Bedfordshire Council will not face an increase in the contribution they pay towards the cost of their services. We have written to those customers who do not receive other social care services giving them notice that we are introducing the charge. The letter advises any customer who is worried about not being able to afford the charge to contact the us and we will explore the options with them.
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Well done Central Beds Council for putting the notice in News Central about the Independent Remuneration Panel (IRP) wanting comments from members of the public about Councillor allowances.
Any member of the public wanting to COMMENT ON COUNCILLOR ALLOWANCES can email Brian.Dunleavy@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk before 31st October.
Let’s hope the Executive will listen and accept the guidance from the IRP not just ignore what everyone has to say. Oh look, is that a pig sailing past my window?
Perhaps Let’s Talk Central can post the links to where members of the public can find the Councillor Allowance details please?
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Hi
As requested, please find below the link to the latest decision about Member allowance information that you request. http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/Published/StdDataDocs/2/7/6/4/SD00004672/$PartKSchemeofMembersAllowances_v6.doc.pdf
Karen.
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Dear Karen,
Thanks for the link – can you please also provide the link where the Executive voted to give the Councillors up to an EXTRA £4,200 each for ICT provision over the period of being a councillor?
Evidently they were getting £4,560 as approved by Council on 12 May 2009…
Now it is recommended they get:-
£600 for equipment
£800 for PC support
£1,600 for fixed line and broadband
£1,200 for mobile phone/PDA
£4,200 for phone and computer use ON TOP OF BASIC ALLOWANCES of £11,220 p.a.
I pay £26 a month to BT for fixed line AND broadband AND all CALLS. £26 x 12 = £312 a year x 4 = £1,248 compared to £1,600 Councillors get for just fixed line and broadband. Then they get another payment of £1,200 for mobile phone/PDA? Is this right?
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Hi
The Executive agreed changes to Member allowances for ICT equipment in August 2011, the link below will take you to the minutes of the meeting.
http://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/modgov/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=577&MId=3716&Ver=4
Karen.
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There is another site that is run by Central Bedfordshire and is not accessible from here (or so I think) and many, if not all my comments and history lessons can still be seen here. Let’s Talk Central seems to be still active!…very mysterious..even my Grumpy old Git poem is still there…
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Hi Alan
As a long time habit of mine I always keep a back-up copy of all I have posted and Central Bedfordshire is no different.I seems you have deleted all I have written on this site my friend and I have checked all the way back.There seems a gap of three months from January 26th 2011 to October 27th 2010 and it continues backwards from that date. As I have said and I repeat..ALL OF MY POSTS HAVE BEEN DELETED and this smacks of political dogma…and the one post in question is STILL relevant today, even more so under the austerity we the tax payers of Bedfordshire are burdened with.
So here it is again,as it was written in January 21,2011….
Mr Peter Wicks from Langford, Beds says:
January 21, 2011 at 2:37 pm
May I suggest various ways of saving a great deal of money for the
Bedfordshire rate payers, one way would be to make deep cuts within the
internal set up of the Council structure.
(1) Make the chief executive post redundant and save the hundreds of
thousand pounds we the tax payers are asked to fork out, signing contracts
and other strenuous jobs could be carried out for a fraction of the cost
we now pay this unnecessary “figure head” in the council.
(2)The post of “Leader of the Council” could be given to a voluntary
unpaid citizen of Bedfordshire, no salary and only travel expenses paid,
plus the post would be on a yearly basis to stop the undoubted “nepotism”
that this post attracts.
(3)The practice of giving Councilors massive unearned expenses should
cease forth with and like MPs expense’s should be investigated as a matter
of concern to the ratepayers of Bedfordshire, noses in the trough is not
acceptable.
(4) The massive waste of paper in the form of “self-praise” literature
sent though the post to every citizen in our Shire and costing many
thousands should be discontinued, newsletters and papers that cost us a
great deal of money and is usually slung straight into the dustbin is a
waste of rate payers money.
Well-loved. Like or Dislike: 57 1
Note:This was posted in January 2011 and as of yet none of my suggestion
for saving tax payers money have been accepted!
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Funny old world…I swore I left many postings here!…
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Checked right back to 2010 and can’t find a single word that I wrote…
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Peter
I have checked the postings you made which were largely around last year’s budget strategy. As this was last year’s strategy the post we originally did on this site is not currently live.
Regards
Alan
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Does anyone other than the Council use this website any more? Maybe it’s time to save a few more pennies, and put it to bed.
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Hi James, the site is always open to comments from residents but at the moment we are not consulting on any issues where it is appropriate to use this website. We have recently just closed a discussion about libraries and we will have discussion questions in December about the councils budget options. However, residents are not limited to only respond to our questions, anyone can raise any issue through the “have your say” question. Even when we are not actively promoting the site as part of a specific consutlation we still monintor it every day and respond to questions where we can.
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In the library survey could we have: “Just left alone” as an option.
Not everyone want the libraries shaken up, but your survey doesn’t allow for a ‘Do nothing’ option, which many of us want.
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Dear Karen,
On 6th July I posted some further questions about the £600,000 CBC is currently spending on mobile phone rentals to Vodafone & Orange.
You said the bills are currently running at £11,000 a month, does that include calls or are the calls billed separately?
I have seen Cllr Stay for example uses an iphone 4 – do we pay for this? or are the mobile devices more basic?
Do the staff keep the phones or hand them in? Do any charities benefit from these? I would like to nominate a charity (The Lords Taverners) to benefit if the Council decide to dispose of their phones.
I am not sure if you saw these extra questions as they were posted two weeks ago.
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Hi Lucy, you did indeed and I posted the following response on 7th July but it seems it did not publish on the website although you should have received an email as well? I have published your question and our response as a new thread so it will publish on the website while I look into this issue.
We are charged between £2,500 and £3,500 per month for calls, again this is reducing all the time as phones are removed.
Councillor Stay’s iPhone is his own.
Council phones are handed in when they are removed or the contract comes to an end. The returned phones are traded in with our supplier for reduced phone upgrade costs or they are recycled so the council gets some value back from the recycling company.
Karen.
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Dear Karen,
Thanks for replying. I have never received an email response linked to any queries. I have always had to check the website from time to time to see if a response has been made.
I must say, you are a fountain of knowledge and you are one of the few people in Central Beds Council who seem to know where to go to find answers to questions.
Well done and THANK YOU, your help IS appreciated.
Lucy
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Hi Lucy, I’ll check out the email notification too! Thank you for the feedback I am pleased to hear you find Let’s Talk Central useful.
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Could someone PLEASE check the spelling and punctuation of roadworks signage before it is placed out on site !! Seen this morning in Arlesey – “No HGV’s”.
Apostrophe s signifies a possessive ie. the HGV’s wheels. It does NOT signify a plural! The sign should therefore read “No HGVs”
This is just on eof many such errors seen around the county and does not impress.
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Wendy, please could you tell us exactly where the sign is so we can check if it is one of ours or not.
Karen.
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It was positioned at the exit roundabout off the A507 heading towards Arlesey. There are many mis-spelt roadsigns all across the county – mainly using the apostophe s incorrectly as a plural.
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Hi Wendy,
After making several enquires and visiting the area we have not been able to find the road sign you have mentioned. There have been road works in this area of Arlesey recently; therefore it is likely that this was a temporary road sign placed by a third party contractor such as a utility or telecoms company, which now appears to have been removed. Signs placed by Central Bedfordshire Council are carefully checked.
If you would like to report any highways faults please contact our highways helpdesk on T. 0300 300 8049 or email highways@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
Rachna
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Almost a month has passed since I reported this particular sign so I am not surprised that you were unable to find it. I will indeed forward reports of mis-spelt signs and would encourage others to do so too.
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