At the end of October, I attended the first Leicester ‘Hope Hack’ at the Peepul Centre. ‘Hope Hacks’ are a series of events being run across the UK to gather the collective views of young people on issues like safe spaces, fairness and equality, and services for young people. Hosted and facilitated by ‘The Hope Collective’ which was founded to support the 20th-anniversary legacy campaign for Damilola Taylor ( https://www.hopecollectiveuk.com/ ) they work in partnerships across England and Wales. The outcomes of the events will feed back into the government’s policy unit of the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities at 10 Downing Street. Some amazing young people from across the county and city were in attendance and shared their inspirational stories.
On Sunday 30th October, I attended the annual County Service in Kibworth Harcourt. It was well attended despite the rainy weather. On Monday 31st October I was at Police HQ in Enderby to host the first countywide Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) to jointly look at the key priorities for community safety across the counties and city and how, as a partnership, we were going to deliver on those priorities.
On Tuesday 1st November, I headed north to Manchester to attend the annual three-day National Children and Adults Services Conference. This is a chance to listen to keynote speakers from across the country and network with colleagues from around the country and is an especially useful environment to share good practices. It was an inspiring conference, but a few very tiring days!
Back home I attended the annual ‘Pride in Practice’ Awards at the Tigers Stadium, which celebrates the amazing staff we have at the county council, who look after our vulnerable children and families and give us all a chance to keep families together.
I then headed to Sheffield for the day to attend the Local Government Association (LGA) Peer Mentor Conference and the following day I headed to Warwick University for the annual Police and Crime Panel (PCP) Conference to again speak to fellow Chairs of panels giving us time to learn from each other. We had some great keynote speakers talking about the culture of all the country’s police forces and how PCP panels can add value to their communities.
On Sunday 13th November, Armistice Sunday, I attended the church service at St Mary’s Church in Anstey before heading to Newtown Linford this year to lay my wreath by the memorial stone outside The Linford, on behalf of all the residents within my division.
It has been a very busy few weeks with the training and conferences I have attended, whilst continuing to deal with all my casework. As we head into December, I am looking forward to a lighter schedule and spending time with family and friends during the festive season.
Support for Ukrainian Refugees
Families who have opened their homes to people fleeing war-torn Ukraine will get £150 more each month to support them with the cost-of-living pressures this winter.
Leicestershire County Council is using the Government Homes for Ukraine grant it receives to increase the payment it provides to host families from £350 to £500.
As the latest figures show, 1,420 people have applied for visas to live with families in the county, two new welfare officers have also been recruited, including a Ukrainian national who came to the UK under the national scheme, into a team dedicated to supporting Ukrainian guests and their host families.
Recycling Batteries
People in Leicestershire are being reminded to ‘take charge’ when it comes to the disposal of batteries. Leicestershire County Council is supporting the national campaign – led by the Environmental Services Association - to tackle the growing number of serious “zombie battery” fires started by carelessly-discarded batteries at its recycling facilities.
Both Coalville and Barwell recycling and household waste sites were forced to close temporarily earlier this year, after discarded batteries caused fires.
In the UK, up to a billion batteries are used and thrown away every year. When they are thrown away with the general rubbish, or mixed with other recycling, hidden “zombie batteries” can easily ‘return from the dead’ and cause serious fires. Lithium-ion batteries are particularly prone to causing fires or explosions if they are not recycled properly.
Some battery types can ignite or even explode when they’re damaged in waste collection and treatment processes. Once this happens, the batteries can set fire to other materials present in the waste, such as paper and cards, leading to serious incidents that, in some cases, put lives at risk and disrupt vital waste services.
These batteries are most commonly found in products such as laptops, tablets, mobile phones, radio-controlled toys, Bluetooth devices, shavers, electric toothbrushes, power tools, scooters, and even e-cigarettes.
Residents are reminded to follow this advice:
- Never put batteries in your general waste or recycling bins
- Only recycle batteries using a proper battery recycling service, such as at your local recycling and household waste site, or battery collection point often found in supermarkets
- Remove batteries from broken devices if you can and recycle both the battery and the device separately.
If you cannot remove the battery, please recycle it with your old electricals.
Residents can find out where to recycle batteries responsibly in the county, and more about the dangers of Zombie Batteries, by visiting www.takecharge.org.uk
Parliamentary Boundaries
Parliamentary constituency boundaries are changing - and now is your final chance to help shape the new map.
The Boundary Commission for England (BCE) is required by parliament to undertake an independent and impartial review of all constituencies in England, to rebalance the number of electors in each constituency.
Constituency sizes currently vary widely due to population changes since the last boundary review. The new map proposed by the BCE will make sure each constituency has between 69,724 and 77,062 electors, so that each MP represents roughly the same number of electors. The 2023 boundary review also requires that the number of constituencies in England increase from 533 to 543.
Following feedback, the BCE has changed nearly half of the initial proposals published last year. The new revised proposals are now available to view via an interactive map on the consultation website: www.bcereviews.org.uk This website also includes all the details on how to submit your comments.
The final public consultation is open until 5th December and this is your final chance to provide your views on new constituency boundaries.
Cost of Living Increases
An extra £3.6m of Government cash is enabling Leicestershire County Council to step up the support it is providing this winter as the cost of living pressures bite.
Under proposals published on Monday 17th October, the money will be used to offer £1.5m emergency food and fuel support and will ensure 14,000 children across our county have free school meal vouchers during the Christmas, February half term, and Easter holidays.
The national funding takes the council’s wide-ranging support package to £14.8m and is on top of community fridges, innovative ‘green homes’ schemes, energy efficiency advice, and help for food banks and charities, all of which is helping to bring down household bills.
The vital support includes:
- Energy efficiency grants and advice - through the council’s Warm Homes Scheme
- £4m Greener Living Leicestershire project - helping to cut household bills by providing fully-funded home improvements including loft and wall insulation, solar panels, heat pumps, and new energy-efficient windows and doors
- £15 free school meal vouchers for 14,000 children across Leicestershire - also benefiting families during Christmas, February half term, and Easter.
Voluntary groups, charities, public sector organisations, and others can refer people for support from the £1.5m emergency food and fuel support pot – any organisations wanting to register should email: [email protected]
To find out more about the support go to: www.leicestershire.gov.uk/cost-of-living or please contact me if you need more information.
Platinum Jubilee Sculpture
Five trees from Platinum Jubilee Sculpture are to be planted in Leicestershire in honour of the Queen.
The Queen's Green Canopy (QGC) has selected five Leicestershire organisations to receive special trees from the ‘Tree of Trees’, the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire has announced.
Rowan, silver birch, and alder trees are amongst the five trees selected to come to the county. The five trees were among 350 saplings that formed the 69-foot-tall Tree of Trees sculpture in front of Buckingham Palace during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June.
The recipients who have been chosen to receive the trees are LOROS, Rainbows Hospice, Bradgate Park Trust, Abbey Park in Leicester, and Welland Park in Market Harborough. As a Trustee of Bradgate Park Trust, I was delighted to hear that Bradgate Park Trust was to receive one of the trees.
They will be officially planted by each recipient in the coming months. The recipients will each plant a sapling in the pot embossed with the Queen’s cypher, which will be gifted to another local organisation in the coming year. This will be repeated in the future every year.
The trees are part of the living legacy in honour of the late Queen, joining over a million trees already planted across the UK as part of The Queen’s Green Canopy - an initiative to plant trees to mark the Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
I would like to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year.
