Hello from Bedford!
Occasional newsletter - mainly for expats
I feel deeply ashamed that I have not posted anything for eight weeks. My only excuse is that over this period other things have crowded my life, and since Internet work is my bread and butter at the moment, it seemed like a bit of a busman's hobby to update the various sites that I run voluntarily. Postings such as the one received this week on the guest book are hardly encouraging! Sorry Carl, but try running a website for eleven years; there are bound to be times when one feels a little tired and empty! As for payment, I wish...! And I totally disagree with your impression about Bedford and Bedfordshire.
Saxons day
I visited the museum last month, where the theme was Saxons day. As usual, it was a well-thought out and interesting account of the development of Bedford, and the role the Saxons paid.
There did not seem to be the number of visitors that one might reasonably expect, but then it was a Christmas shopping day. Somehow I don't think that our museum receives the profile it deserves, but this might well change when the museum and Cecil Higgins Art Gallery are combined. The latter, by the way, is closed at the moment, undergoing a major refurbishment. It will not re-open until 2010 I understand.
Hospital awarded prestigious Government charter mark
Bedford Hospital has been awarded the government charter mark for customer service excellence.
The prestigious award was handed to the Trust's operational support services department, which includes the hospital's cleaning teams, porters and caterers.
Director of Operational Support Services Steve Morgan welcomed the award, saying: "I am delighted that the hospital's operational services team has been awarded the government charter mark for achieving a gold standard in customer services.
"Operational services staff work incredibly hard behind the scenes to support the effective and efficient running of the hospital.
"The department includes cleaning teams, catering staff in the Swannery and Le Bistro, security and portering, medical records, hospital volunteers, maintenance and hospital transport.
"Their hard work and commitment has resulted in the Trust gaining this prestigious award, showing we are performing well and making sure we provide patients, visitors and the hospital the service they need and expect."
Chief Executive Jean O'Callaghan, said: "This award for excellence is a real reflection of the commitment and hard work of staff working across the hospital.
"The dedication of the operation support services team to providing a first class service to patients and visitors, as well as supporting staff in wards and departments is second to none, and I am delighted that dedication has been recognised externally."
The charter mark is the government's national standard for customer excellence in public services and is independently and rigorously evaluated.
The formal assessment process involves a number of site visits and an inspection of a portfolio of collated evidence.
The standard is based on the following six criteria:
1. Setting and demonstrating good performance standards
2. Actively engaging with customers, partners and staff
3. Be fair and accessible to all users and promote choice
4. Continuously demonstrate improvement and the development of services
5. Use available resources effectively and imaginatively
6. Improving opportunities and engaging with the local community
The charter mark standard has only been achieved by a small number of support functions in the NHS.
The never-ending saga of Unitary status
This may raise a yawn amongst many, but it is an important issue for rate-payers in the county at large. The government has signified its intention to award Unitary status to Bedford, which will also spell the end of the County Council administration.
The relationship between the town and the council has never been easy. The latter has been the senior party, with a larger remit and, in my judgment, a thinly disguised contempt for the town. It will not have been lost on anyone observing the debates at county hall that there was an arrogance displayed by some of the people at the top. And one would have to be extremely charitable or utterly blind not to come to the conclusion that this large expensive body was simply not delivering the goods. The rates imposed have been unreasonably high, the administration inefficient, and the waste quite colossal.
The town, for its part, has been prudent in its handling of the rate-payers' money. It is the town that has had to collect the rates, and then to pass the overwhelming majority of this to the profligate county.
Though the county spent a huge amount of money (several times larger than the town) establishing a case for retention of its remit, the government decided that it was "minded" to award unitary status to the Borough. Prior to this all parties has solemnly promised to cooperate with each other, whatever the result. However, the county, on learning that it had lost it case, mounted a legal challenge and declared that the government's decision was "flawed."
And that is where we are at the moment, whilst recriminations continue. As a last-ditch attempt to change the government's mind, the county has mounted an "SOS" (save our services) campaign. The libraries and other places have petition papers prominently displayed.
Councillor Madeline Russell states:
“Only Bedfordshire County Council’s proposals will save our services while keeping council tax under control.
“If the Government decides not to back our unitary bid, it will mean massive cuts to essential services like education, social care and highways.
“The alternative proposal for two unitaries will cost the taxpayer dearly because the new councils will be plunged into debt - and the only way to avoid that will be cuts or big council tax increases.
“That’s why we are urging residents to sign our petition, which we will present to the Government in February.”
There is no evidence from the town that services will suffer as a result of the change, but that is the "pitch" being put about by the county.
Bored? Aren't we all! If the people at county hall have an regard for the residents in the town and county, and not their own skins, they would be getting together to sort things out. Of course, if the county continues to spend heavily in its campaign, there will be a debt problem.
By the way, Frank Branston, Bedford's Mayor, has a blog which makes interesting reading. See here.
Expenditure on PR
An article in Bedfordshire on Sunday revealed that millions of pounds in taxpayers' money is being spent by Bedfordshire councils on PR.
BoS reports that the TaxPayers' Alliance says the extra money spent on publicity, which has on average doubled in the last decade, could be used to reduce people's council tax bills.
It has released figures for more than 450 councils in the country to challenge the claim that town halls are strapped for cash.
Bedfordshire County Council tops the list for the region at £2.44million - up almost 135 per cent in the last ten years from £1.039million.
Councils defended the spending saying they include costs of advertising for key jobs including teachers, and publication of public notices as demanded by the law.
Matthew Elliott, Chief Executive for the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "With council tax doubling in the past decade, its extremely disappointing that councils have chosen to double their publicity budgets over the same period.
"With the internet cutting the cost of communication, it shouldn't be difficult for local authorities to find savings in this area and bring council tax down."
According to the figures, Beds County Council is the country's 55th top publicity spender, and is ranked 41st according to its total population.
However, John Street, the county council's Cabinet member for Customer Services, said the figures are 'full of holes'.
"Councils tend to be criticized if they do communicate well with residents, and criticized if they don't. I think Bedfordshire County Council does a good job informing residents where their money is being spent and consulting with them on important issues."
Meanwhile....
A report in Bedfordhire on Sunday states that one hundred and twenty senior officers from Bedfordshire County Council spent nearly a fortnight on a training course where activities included making circus animals out of toilet rolls and fuzzy felt, hunting for hidden envelopes and building a pyramid that they had to sell to a make-believe 'pharaoh'.
In all, it is claimed the 12-day management course at Eversholt Village Hall cost the council more than £100,000.
The team-building exercise also cost the council four man-years of work (1,440 working days).
At the end of their activities the officers had to put on a show for chief executive Andrea Hill.
When officers from lower grades queried why only senior managers had been allowed on this exercise, the council brought in a second training consultancy called Gee Whizz to provide a shorter course.
Cllr John Street, cabinet member for customer services, said: "The Being a Bedfordshire Manager Course has been incredibly successful and very popular with our managers. It is one of the ways in which we invest in our staff, and of course it is one of the reasons why the county council has improved so much so quickly and is now a good council. It goes without saying it is exactly the sort of course that the best councils invest in."
The rates
It is reported that Bedfordshire County Council - the sixth highest council taxing authority in Britain - plans to keep its council tax increase steady this year.
The council's proposed increase is 3.8 per cent, which it claims is the lowest for a decade.
A council spokesman said: "Surveys carried out in November told us that residents' main priorities have not changed and that roads, community safety, care for older people and improving education were still services which mattered most to the people of Bedfordshire."
Video clips
Still cameras and moble 'phones have spawned a huge number of video clips, some excellent ones. Having spent my youth in a tiny town in northern Argentina I was quite overwhelmed to see some clips on U-tube! Well, here are some from Bedford:
Local ITV occasionally have short video clips relating to the area. http://www.itvlocal.com/anglia/news/ is worth a visit.
This rather pleasant one shows the Christmas lights in Bedford.
This one shows a few short clips depicting the Christmas fair. Worth a glance!
And this one has a mixture of still and cine shots of Bedford, some of which have been pinched from my site. Naughty, but who cares!
This one shows a (somewhat unsteady!) walk down the High Street and down towards Woolworths.
Finally, this one is a somewhat steadier tour of the town.
I hope, Jill and Paul, who kindly sprang to my defence in the guestbook, these will evoke a little nostalgia about Bedford. Thanks by the way for writing!
Fire
Down Goldington Road, opposite the park, was a restaurant called the Lincoln Arms. It has been closed for a long time now, but this week it was engulfed in flames.
BoS reports: Reliefs crews attended from just after midnight to ensure the fire did not reignite
The Lincoln Arms is a grade-II listed building, thought to have been built in the 1650s as Goldington Hall. It was converted into a hotel with a licensed restaurant in the 1970s.
It is also reputed to have been the site of one of the final battles of the English Civil War, while local legend has it that Dick Turpin was once a familiar figure on the dirt track which once ran past the building.
More recently there have been plans to convert the site into a complex of 14 flats, with another ten dwellings built on the grounds, with planning permission granted in September 2006.
The incident is being treated as suspicious, with fire investigation officers and police scene of crime officers investigating the cause.
Lottery windfall for play areas
Proposals to boost play areas across Bedford Borough have landed a lottery windfall of £342,273 to cover the next two years.
The proposals, put forward by Bedford Borough Council, were approved by the Big Lottery Children's Play Programme Fund, following the submission of a portfolio of projects.
Speaking following the award, Cllr Pat Olney, portfolio holder for arts, leisure and diversity at Bedford Borough Council said: "We are really pleased that the Big Lottery Fund supported these proposals from North Bedfordshire Play Partnership and Bedford Borough Council and will provide this funding.
"This will give a major boost to play opportunities right across the borough. As well as bringing improvements to existing play areas we will be able to provide new play opportunities with the creation of two new play ranger posts."
The London Olympics and Bedford
The London Olympics are drawing near, amd this Tuesday Bedford had a visit from Lord Sebastian Coe, who is spearheading the work entailed in preparing for the 2012 Olympic games.
At Westfield Middle School Seb Coe met youngsters and adults involved in two multi-faith sporting projects.
Members of the All Saints Basketball Club and Queens Park Youth Cricket had the chance to show off their skills in front of the 1980 and 1984 Olympic 1500m gold medallist.
Asked how Bedfordshire will benefit from the 2012 Games, Lord Coe said: "The county can benefit in lots of ways because of its proximity to London. Most of all, I hope young people across the county will feel inspired to get involved in sport and aim to compete in 2012.
"There is enormous scope for young people to play their part with opportunities for volunteers, and coaches. But we need to ensure that the excitement and investment in sport continues long after 2012.
"Sydney has shown that sport can transform a city. The 2000 Olympics has left a lasting legacy and inspired a new generation of athletes."
"It was wonderful to see youngsters from all backgrounds getting so much enjoyment from sport," said Lord Coe after he had taken part in a basketball display at Westfield Middle School. "The two clubs have taken enormous strides in developing the children's sporting skills and bringing cohesion to the diverse communities in their area."
After the visit to Westfield Lord Coe moved on to speak to more than 100 budding athletes from schools across the county at a Youth Sport Summit hosted by the University of Bedfordshire.
He was joined by World, European and Commonwealth athletics champion, Derek Redmond, and captain of Bedford Blues Rugby Club, Matt Allen, who answered questions from pupils and spoke about how they had been inspired to get involved in sport.
University success
Applications to the University of Bedfordshire for 2008 are set to top last year's record- breaking increase.
Early indications show the university has attracted an increase of more than seven per cent in student applications, even though some institutions are seeing a decline.
Professor Les Ebdon said: "2007 was an exceptional year for us, topping the table for the largest increase in student applications in the UK. That was a wonderful achievement in our first year as the new University of Bedfordshire.
"Universities around the UK are seeing a decrease in applications but our figures show that we are bucking the trend.
"We were anticipating being 17 per cent down as students can now only choose five courses instead of six when making their selection.
"Not only have we avoided a decrease, we are up by more than seven per cent. Students are choosing to study at Bedfordshire because of our welcoming environment and excellent reputation for teaching quality."
Finally
Apologies if I have already sent this in a previous newsletter. This photograph was taken in May 1919.
More soon!
Robert