Weekly news from Bedford, UK

The leader in this week's BoS will not interest any expats, so enough said!

Those in charge at Yarl's Wood have been branded 'insensitive bullies' after threatening an employee with disciplinary action for taking time off sick.

The worker, who has asked not to be named, was stunned to receive a letter from centre manager Ray Reveley stating 'it is noted that during the past 12 months you have had at least four periods of absence either through sickness or other reasons; please be aware that any further sick absence may lead to disciplinary proceedings'.

The detention centre is now run by GSL, which has taken over from Group 4 and the worker said

"There is a culture of bullying toward staff and detainees.

"As far as most people are concerned absence due to sickness is beyond the control of most mere mortals."

BoS reports that paramedics have revealed that ambulance coverage is so low only five days in July were fully staffed.

Last week Bedfordshire on Sunday revealed Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Ambulance and Paramedic Service (BHAPS) is considering stopping overtime after a confidential email from the Trust's director of performance was leaked to this newspaper.

However, information obtained by BoS also shows that the service is running desperately low on crews and on three separate dates in July the North Bedfordshire division was 50 per cent down.

A management spokesman at the Trust said they could not comment on this issue unless they knew the specific dates in question.

As a result, members of BHAPS supplied this information to the Ambulance Service Union so it could be passed on to us.

Only five nights in July were fully staffed. Every other night there was some level of shortfall.

So far in August, only one night has been fully staffed.

In June BoS also revealed how a couple of Kempston crew members had been suspended after they made a hoax call to a fellow paramedic.

The Kempston station suffered 21 days of staff shortages during July - the period the pair were off duty awaiting their disciplinary hearing.

Ray Carrick, Assistant General Secretary of the Ambulance Service Union said:

A mere glance at the list of shifts, which have gone uncovered, will show that it is something of a hollow boast for management to claim that they have sufficient resources to remove the need for overtime cover.

It is, in fact, misleading to the public and community of Bedfordshire. It indicates that they apparently have enough staff to cover vacancies but are failing managerially to operate systems which would allow for the optimum use of their available staff resources.

In a service which is infamous among staff around the country for its harsh attitude towards alleged shortcomings among frontline ambulance staff, it will be interesting to see if they apply the same fierce standards to their own failings.

Most frontline staff imagine that pigs will fly before the management within BHAPS admits to being at fault over anything and takes disciplinary action against its own senior managers."

I believe staff wanted this information to go into the public domain because people are being put at risk by an incompetent management, which refuses to accept there is a problem.

I think the staff have had enough of a repressive and aggressive management regime."

Will Hancock, chief executive of BHAPS, said:

"I would like to reassure your readers that for the fourth consecutive year BHAPS has achieved three-star status which means that we are one of the five best performing ambulance Trusts in the country.

This is an excellent achievement and one which is very hard to maintain as the standards get tougher each year."

Not even Sundays will be safe from the Zoneboys.

Bedford shoppers and residents could soon be in line for week-long parking fines.

Traffic wardens have been told that they face working on Sundays as the council tries to combat illegal parkers.

Parking charges in the controlled parking zone have recently increased - the charge for over four hours being raised to £7.

The extra patrols came into force after Bedford joint parking board decided in March that there should be late night and Sunday enforcement of parking restrictions.

The cost of the scheme, which works out as an extra 20 hours per week, is being covered by the controlled parking zone account.

One driver said:

"I think that it is a very sad state of affairs for Bedford. You can go to Milton Keynes and park in many places for free, but if you pull up outside your workplace for a few minutes you face a fine.

I could understand it if we were in London, but we aren't. We are in a small town. This is a waste of money."

A spokesman for the borough council said:

"The parking board made this decision in response to public requests for improved parking control and access concerns from the emergency services. These included making sure disabled bays were only used for badge-holders and ensuring traffic routes weren't blocked so emergency vehicles could get through the streets."

Campaigners trying to stop pubs gaining all-day licences say the rules make it difficult if not impossible for them to appeal.

Last week licences were granted for extended opening hours in the Bedford Lounge and the Rose, both in Bedford's High Street.

A petition by protesters was not allowed to influence the decision as their objections were deemed 'irrelevant'.

The co-ordinator for the objectors, Dan Levene, has written to the borough council, asking both to appeal the decision and to the fact their objections were not seen as relevant.

He has had a letter back saying there is no right of an appeal to the council over the decision or to the irrelevance of the objections.

It appears the protesters need to go through the court system. Mr Levene said:

"This makes the committee little more than a kangaroo court. I would have thought it is a breach of our human rights that we have no say or no appeal to the council on such decisions. It is like living in a dictatorship.

We have been told we need to speak to a lawyer but we cannot afford lawyers."

A Bedford Borough Council spokesman said:

"The magistrates' court will decide if there will be an appeal and what evidence will be admissible."

SIR - Your correspondents Roger Cooper and Paul Rowntree (Bedfordshire on Sunday Aug 14), who both live in Flitwick, oppose proposals for a new Ampthill Parkway station because they might have to use 'some kind of transport' or even (goodness gracious me, perish the thought) walk to reach it.

What a dog in the manger attitude.

But no more, I suppose, than we have come to expect from the selfish, narrow-minded burghers of Flitwick.

For years they have moaned about poor commuters who, because there are not sufficient spaces on the town's overcrowded station car park, are forced to leave their cars all day in surrounding residential streets.

Yet when a sensible solution is offered, they get an attack of the vapours, throw their hands in the air and stagger round in mindless circles braying 'foul'.

Mr Rowntree laments that 'someone might pull out of purchasing a house in Flitwick if they think the station is under threat of closure'.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

• SIR - I am very concerned about the way Center Parcs continues to misinform and hold back information from the public concerning the proposed development at Warren Wood, near Flitwick.

First, Center Parcs engages in public consultation because planning law states that they have to.

This was what Mid Bedfordshire District Council told them in December 2004, when Center Parcs made early inquiries.

The campaign to stop this development is a campaign of information, because we believe that once people truly realise what Center Parcs has planned, they too will go against these plans.

Center Parcs claims, they 'will aim to improve landscape'.

They want to develop on greenbelt land, a county wildlife site and an area of great landscape value.

Even Center Parcs' own marketing literature states that such sites should be avoided.

The new extended footpath, suggested by Center Parcs is running along the busy and noisy A507.

Hardly a substitute for the 200-odd-year-old Green Sand Ridge walk footpath, running diagonally across the wood. However, the biggest concern is the traffic.

If you come from the M1 South, both the shortest and the fastest route is through Flitwick.

With the accumulation of traffic due to Nirah, Wixam and other developments in the area, this will turn Flitwick into traffic chaos.

As one member from Flitwick Town Council recently said 'we will all have to fly into Flitwick in helicopters'.

Flitwick Town Council will make their decision concerning the Center Parcs development at a full council meeting on August 31, at 8.30pm in The Rufus Center.

I urge all people to write in objection letters to Flitwick councillors and to come to the meeting.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - Am I alone in taking a dislike to the American-style police and ambulance sirens?

They are so irritating and stress inducing.

Why can we not go back to the bell-like sounds from previous years?

After all this is Britain not downtown Manhattan.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - I write regarding your story last week, 'Police ready to seize scooters'.

Well, no, they are not - or at least they were not last year when I rang them about scooters racing up and down Church End here in Biddenham.

I was not concerned with the noise, or the 'nuisance' - a very slippery concept - but with safety.

The scooters concerned had no registration plates, and without those, presumably there was no way of checking whether or not they were insured or whether the riders had licences.

But of this you could be certain - if they hit you or your children or grandchildren, they were likely to cause grave injury or death. The police were unsympathetic.

Were the vehicles quad bikes or not?

I did not know. They did not take the matter further.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

• SIR - Well done to the police for clamping down on noisy scooters.

My concern is the delay between warning and confiscation.

Because of poor policing visibility in rural areas considerable advantage has been taken with the increase of motorised Go-Ped scooters ridden by very young children on roads, footways and paths, clearly with parental consent.

These little scooters are not suitable on rough terrain and are clearly designed for use only on flat surfaces, which means roads.

These scooters are legally motor vehicles.

They cannot be registered or licensed as they fail to comply with construction and use regulations and UK safety standards to satisfy road traffic legislation.

Consequently none will have third party insurance.

It is only a matter of time before accidents and serious injuries occur given the temptation upon children to ride and the way they are ridden.

These machines are a distressing and anti-social nuisance to residents and present illegal dangers to drivers.

Given the non-compliance to the law - as determined in the case of DDP v Saddington, 2001 - and the obvious intention to use these vehicles on roads there can be no warnings.

If found or reported they should be instantly confiscated and destroyed.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - As you correctly reported in last Sunday's paper, the licensing committee of the Bedford Borough Council granted permission to two town centre public houses for a further extension of drinking hours - now to be extended until 4am.

The committee ignored the objection of over 100 residents who live in the Castle Road area on the grounds that they do not live in the 'vicinity' of the named public houses.

However, the Government guidelines on the concept of 'vicinity' are not clear.

This is all highly a disturbing state of affairs.

Last Friday, Westminster City Council rejected an application from a public house in central London (next to Tate Britain) to remain open until midnight.

Among the 56 objectors was Labour MP Dr Hywel Francis who strongly supports the Government position on 24 hour drinking.

He defended his action by saying that the 'legislation gives the power to individual citizens to make representation to local authorities'.

It is interesting to note that the present Government would very much like to curb anti-social behaviour and has passed some legislation to tackle the problem.

On the other hand the Government is keen to be seen as business friendly and has liberalised laws on alcohol-driven entertainment in our towns and cities.

Surely this is not Tony Blair's example of being 'tough on crime and even tougher on the causes of crime'.

We must protest.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - As the leader of the Liberal Democrat group when the so-called strategic partnership project between Bedfordshire County Council and HBS was approved by the Conservative administration, I would like to endorse the comments of Liz O'Reilly (BoS Aug 21).

At the time this 'marriage' took place, the deal cost the council - or rather the public of Bedfordshire - nearly £1m in legal and consultants fees.

There was scant regard to the concerns raised by opposition parties to an arrangement which was more about 'share values' than the shared values which should have underpinned a robust partnership arrangement for the delivery of 'best value' public services.

That said, despite a willingness to participate once the deal was done, we were denied meaningful involvement in the running of the partnership.

Having made the big decision, the ruling Tory elite allowed others to be mere spectators.

When money is tight in funding education, children's services and road maintenance every pound spent elsewhere is a pound not spent on these legitimate calls on public expenditure.

Public accountability is something we perhaps take for granted - but the county council has a duty to its public (as stakeholders) to explain how it is managing affairs on our behalf.

The bemusing aspect in all this is that, despite making a complete bodge of almost everything they touch, the Conservatives still get voted into power locally - presumably to give us more of the same?

(One wonders whether those who made the decision, and who have now revoked the plan, ought not to be surcharged. Somehow the bill always lands up on the rate-payers' doormats!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------

SIR - Congratulations to lliffe News & Media on their acquisition of LSN Media Ltd. I wish the new venture all the very best for the future.

I sincerely hope that this is an opportunity for BoS to clearly and unambiguously sever any actual or perceived bias towards the political aspirations of its former owners.

If I did not know better I could actually believe that the Mayor of Bedford was personally responsible for every single piece of good news that has occurred within a 30-mile radius of the county town for at least the last century.

But this acquisition also provides an opportunity for Bedfordshire County Council to improve its relationship with the paper.

We expect robust reporting when things go wrong. I think we can also justifiably expect fair reporting when things go well.

Richard Stay

County councillor for South East Bedfordshire

Editor's note: The principles of robust and fair reporting will continue.

BoS comments on education:

When it comes to education, Bedfordshire is a bog-standard county.

Whichever statistics you look at, the county's schools sit more or less in the middle.

This, it has to be said, is better than many of the services run by the county council at the moment.

So there is much to aim for in making changes to the system but equally much to worry about.

The council is currently looking at the possibility of switching from its three-tier system with lower, middle and upper schools to the more traditional two-tier model. Could Mr Bell offer any advice?

"From Ofsted's inspection findings, there is little evidence to suggest one system is any better than the other.

Councillors will not be able to point to any 'smoking gun' that will show without doubt which route to take. To that extent, it will be a political decision that will involve looking at matters such as buildings, costs and the potential longer term viability of upper schools that only cater for 14-19 year olds.

The one powerful educational argument that might be thrown up is whether the ever-diminishing number of three tier systems in the country will eventually lead to a shortage of specialist teachers, in, for example, middle schools", said David Bell.

Did he think the recent bomb attacks in London will affect areas such as Bedford and Luton, with their substantial populations of Muslims and residents who originated from the Asian sub-continent?

"These are difficult issues. The first priority must be to do all we can to prevent racist attacks and deal with them if they occur. There is a high degree of tolerance in Bedfordshire and that must have helped a good deal."

What did Mr Bell think about faith schools and dealing with faith and cultural issues within schools?

"Calls for Muslim and other faith schools are rising and may prove irresistible and difficult to reject given the existence of such schools in our education system already.

"But while not being a supporter of the more windy ideas of multi-culturalism, we must watch for different ethnic and cultural groups growing apart rather than together.

"Perhaps this raises the wider issue of how comfortably all-embracing faith systems sit within a mainly secular, liberal society?

"Like, I imagine, most people I find this to be a bit of a conundrum. I do not know the answer but that should not mean the question ought not to be asked.

"People need to be free to choose to follow any religion but there can be a tension if they seek to impose their wishes on the majority who do not share their views."

One area of increasing concern is that while education may generally be improving, for a section of society it is not only getting worse but seen as increasingly irrelevant.

"Most of us may see ourselves as middle class these days but there is a group of unskilled, uneducated people coming out of school with little hope and no future. They in turn become resentful.

"Despite all the 'world's-going-to the-dogs' chatter about A levels we get at this time of the year, we are producing more and more better educated youngsters than ever before.

"Yet there is a group, I agree, who just fall through the system. I do not think that there is one answer, as it is not just to do with education but can also be a social and family issue.

"However, we do need to address it. While I do not agree that children should leave school at 14, there is often little point in carrying on a purely academic route for these teenagers. Schools and colleges have begun to work together to offer practical, work-based training and this needs to be encouraged."

Finally what about choice, which seems to be offered in theory but is often only available to the favoured few in practice?

"It is not choice that is offered under the law but the right of parents to express a preference.

"I agree that it is important to encourage better choice and variety in the education system but it is likely to be impractical for good schools to grow without limit.

"Few would want to do so anyway I suspect.

"So, it is better to try and ensure all schools achieve a good standard so that parents can happily send their children to the local school - which is where Ofsted comes in as it provides the information that parents need and want."

Farmers are calling for drastic measure to cull the population explosion of rabbits.

Breeding rabbits have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage to farming land across the county.

Fields of biscuit wheat are falling victim to a surge in the population of rabbits - the animal brought to Britain as a gourmet dish by those defending the Roman Empire.

Experts say mild winters have created a longer breeding season, which has seen the number of rabbits across the county soar over the last couple of years.

It is estimated that there are 38 million rabbits in the UK.

The situation has become so dire that some of Bedfordshire's farmers are calling for the reintroduction of myxomatosis. This disease eradicated 99 per cent of Britain's rabbit population from a 1950s' high of 100 million.

Charlie Kendall, chairman of the Bedfordshire branch of the National Farmers Union, invited Bedfordshire on Sunday to his farm in Cople to see how many rabbits we could spot.

"I have never seen so many rabbits on my farm. The numbers are escalating out of control.

"I am a farmer who cares passionately about our natural environment. But it appears the more woodland I plant, the more ponds created and the more hedgerows left untouched only seems to encourage more rabbits to the area. They are having a feast on my wheat.

"When I was a boy myxomatosis made spotting a rabbit a rare sight. Perhaps it is time for it to be reintroduced."

His brother Peter, deputy president of the National Farmers Union, also said a lot of his wheat crops had been destroyed at his farm near Biggleswade.

"There are certainly more rabbits about this year due to the changeable weather we have experienced this summer. They have to be controlled.

"Some farmers are trapping them, others shoot them, while ferrets are an option."

BoS reports that the cost to local taxpayers of the county council splitting with one of its major private partners is just under 8 million.

Some of this will be recouped by financial savings, such as pension funds and property exchanges, making the net cost little more than 6 million.

This is much less than had been feared and is being lauded as a very good deal for Bedfordshire.

It will still cost each council-tax payer with a Band D property more than £60.

Bedfordshire County Council signed a contract with HBS in 2001 for 12 years worth 267 million.

Four weeks ago the county council terminated the contract over alleged breaches after only four years.

HBS threatened legal action, which could have ended costing tens of millions of pounds.

After some sabre-rattling, the two parties sat down with a third party, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, to thrash out a deal.

The public has been excluded from the council meetings were this has been discussed and the deal was deemed to be confidential.

One county councillor, who confirmed the amount, said:

"This is a very good deal for the people of Bedfordshire. At last the council can move forward and begin to address all the issues over which we have rightly been criticised. You never know, we might even start reading a bit of good news about us for a change."

Madeline Russell, leader of the county council, said:

"The council is bound by a confidentiality clause in the Settlement Agreement and I can neither confirm nor deny any figure which you may suggest. If we obtain the consent of HBS, I will be happy to disclose details of what was a favourable deal for Bedfordshire residents.

"What I can say is that obtaining the settlement has avoided the threat of future litigation and that there will be no significant impact on council tax. I am confident that the District Auditor will agree that we've made a good deal for Bedfordshire residents.

"The fact that we have come to an agreement so quickly also means there has been minimum impact on officer time and on the council as a whole. We can now concentrate on improving services."

A spokesman for HBS said:

"We are content with the terms of the agreement signed with Bedfordshire County Council concerning the voluntary termination of the HBS-Bedfordshire Partnership.

We are happy for the financial details of the settlement to be made public in the interests of open government, but are restricted from doing so by the confidentiality clause in the agreement signed with the council."

(Both sides, then, appear to be hiding behind this confidentiality agreement and blaming the other party. So why did they sign this in the first place?)

BoS reports that jobs in the county could be lost as a multi-national giant is looking to sell off part of its company.

Unilever may be ready to off-load its frozen foods division, which includes the household name Birds Eye.

The company is understood to have asked the investment bank Goldman Sachs to explore possible options for the struggling divison- which may include disposing of some or all of its brands.

According to analysts, sale of the company could raise several hundred million pounds.

Research and development for the company is based at Colworth House in Sharnbrook. While this is for the whole group, one department deals with research into frozen foods.

This will be under threat if Unilever does sell off this part of its global company, resulting in job loss for the region.

The future of the frozen foods division has been under speculation for some time and concerns have been raised that it is proving a distraction from Unilever's broader growth strategy, which focuses on household goods and personal products.

Unilever has refused to comment on any speculation.

Do expats remember the sweet shop in the arcade? It is on the Net, if you care to try here.

And in the wake of the heat wave, it prominently displays a notice announcing that the shop is air conditioned!

Marks and Spencers is also air-conditioned. There was a small crowd outside the shop, and each time the doors opened cool air could be felt!

The suspension bridge is having a face-lift.

So is the Harpur (Harper?) suite.

Harrold Country Park. It's a great place to visit, and after a walk, there is an excellent cafe. There is a good amount of car parking facility, for which there is a voluntary fee of £1. Thoughtfully, the organisers also have bird seed available for the birds, again at a nominal price.

Though having said that I'd pack up for the holidays, several emails all expressing withdrawal symptoms persuaded me otherwise. (I'm sure they were joking!)

So as term begins again, it is back to normal. Well, almost. I have additional demands on my time this year, so would ask you to bear with me if the news items are shorter, and there are fewer photographs.

Wishing you a good week ahead

Week ending 3 September 2005