I am enjoying this lovely warm weather and I hope you are too.
I have now been approved as a Peer Mentor for the Local Government Association (LGA). This involves sharing my experiences and knowledge with other Local Authorities and Councillors to help them make improvements and changes to their operations to support their residents. I undertook my first assignment at the end of May and spent an enjoyable morning with fellow Councillors at Staffordshire County Council to look at all their scrutiny work. I enjoyed the session and took a lot of learning away with me.
I mentioned in last month’s report that Leicestershire County Council has received £1m of government investment to create new spaces across the County called ‘Family Hubs’.
‘Family hubs' will be 'one-stop-shops' where parents and carers can access family advice and support services in Leicestershire. I was delighted to officially open the first Family Hub in Coalville at the end of May.
I also attended the first Family Hub Conference in Kegworth with all our partners to learn about the early work of the Family Hubs and our key programmes such as ‘Reducing Parental Conflict’ and ‘Start for Life’. Both these programmes support families and early childhood.
I had a lovely morning visiting Loughborough University Nursery to see the splendid work that they are doing there with their cohort of 102 preschool children. They are split into three areas to cover all the age ranges from babies to school-ready children.
We had a tour of the facilities and spoke to many of the children enjoying their time there. The 3-4-year-olds were learning all about bees on the day I visited and were thoroughly enjoying learning about how bees produce their honey.
Cost of Living
Residents who need support with rising food and energy costs can now apply for a slice of a new £7.2m pot. Leicestershire County Council has been awarded the money by the Department of Work and Pensions and is urging residents who are struggling to pay their bills to apply. Eligible households can receive an average of £200 in vouchers.
The council has now provided £22m of wide-ranging support to help ease the cost of living pressures. Over half-term, 14,000 children across Leicestershire also benefitted from £15 school food vouchers.
Leicestershire County Council was the only local authority invited to speak at the Work and Pensions Committee at Westminster. On Wednesday 7th June, Richard Hunt, the council’s head of catering, hospitality, and country parks, talked to the committee of MPs and set out the wide-ranging cost of living support provided by the council, to ensure that the residents most in need got the support on offer.
The council’s support includes:
- Energy efficiency grants and advice - through the council’s Warm Homes scheme
- Community fridges – run by volunteers, the projects in Wigston, Coalville, Loughborough, and Hinckley, are continuing to support their local communities by providing donated food for free to anyone who needs it.
Applications need to be made through a professional or support worker. You can find out more on the council's website https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/find-help-with-cost-of-living
Bus Reviews
The County Council has been awarded £1.78m ‘Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus’ (BSIP+) funding in the current financial year as part of a Department for Transport (DfT) settlement to more than 60 local transport authorities in the country.
The Leicestershire allocation comes from a £80m national pot with the same amount available (£80m) in 2024/25, although allocations to individual authorities have not yet been confirmed for the second year of funding.
This short-term funding boost is welcomed by the council and presents a fantastic opportunity to help improve the public transport offer across the county, but it is vital that services offer value for money.
In using this additional money, the council will ensure it is directed to offer greater connectivity for our communities rather than continuing to subsidise low-value and poorly used services. The council are therefore intending to pause the current Passenger Transport Policy and Strategy (PTPS) review of services which the council currently subsidises. This includes the two bus services in my Division, the CentreBus 154 (Leicester - Loughborough) and the Roberts 125 (Castle Donington – Leicester).
Following a revision of our PTPS, it is anticipated that the Council will start to review their position on all their contracted services from late 2023 into spring 2024, with any planned changes being subject to a transparent engagement process with affected communities.
The BSIP+ funding will allow us to retain our existing subsidised bus services, the cost of which significantly exceeds the current budget, whilst giving the Council the opportunity to reshape our PTPS into supporting a more sustainable rural public transport model.
I encourage all my residents to make use of the Department for Transport’s current £2 fare cap which has been extended until the end of October this year, rising to £2.50 for the rest of the year and into 2024. This will support our bus services going forward and make them more sustainable.
Potholes
£3m is being earmarked to top up the budget for fixing and maintaining Leicestershire’s roads, cycle paths, and pavements.
Leicestershire County Council proposes to redirect the one-off cash to mend potholes and ‘patch repair’ across its 2,800-mile network to mitigate the impact of funding pressure and cost increases.
The money is the equivalent of 30,000 repairs or 75,000m2 of damaged road and will be used to target areas across the county.
I am currently waiting to see if any major maintenance will happen in my Division.
If you know of any potholes in the area, I encourage you to report them for repair. Most potholes are repaired in a couple of days. You can report potholes here:
You can also report other problems here so that they are reported to the correct council department.
Royal Award
Residents of Leicester and Leicestershire are being given the chance to recognise voluntary groups that have made a huge difference by nominating them for a prestigious Royal accolade, ‘The King's Award for Voluntary Service’.
Each year, approximately 250 exceptional local volunteer groups across the UK are recognized with this prestigious award. It holds the same value as an MBE and acknowledges the remarkable efforts of volunteer groups in their communities.
The Lord-Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Mike Kapur OBE, is calling on the residents of Leicester and Leicestershire to nominate worthy groups for the award and highlight their life-changing work.
To be eligible for the award, groups must be made up of three or more people and have been running for at least three years. Nominations need to be made by members of the public, and the nominator cannot be a volunteer, employee, or trustee of the organisation.
The closing date for nominations is the 5th September 2023. Following this, the nominations go through a local and national assessment procedure before Royal approval is sought in the summer of 2024. Winners will be announced on 14th November 2024, the King’s birthday.
The groups who are selected for the ‘King’s Award for Voluntary Service’ will receive an invitation for two representatives to attend a Royal Garden Party at Buckingham Palace, permission to use the King’s Award logo on their marketing materials, a certificate signed by the King and a crystal trophy.
Nominations can be made on the ‘The King's Award for Voluntary Service’ website: https://kavs.dcms.gov.uk/
Flooding
Residents are being encouraged to participate in a questionnaire on local flooding, launched by Leicestershire County Council. The online survey went live in June and will gather views on the Council's updated local flood risk management strategy.
Flooding can cause damage, disruption, and destruction where it occurs and increased heavy rainfall suggests the risk could be growing.
The consultation asks residents for their views on the strategy and for observations on any history of flooding, both on their property and locally.
The consultation will be open until Sunday, 13th August and can be found at leicestershire.gov.uk/flood-risk-strategy and, for more information, call 0116 305 4121 or email [email protected]
School Streets
The County Council’s scheme to create safer streets for everyone by reducing traffic congestion and improving local air quality is being trialled again at two Leicestershire schools.
The ‘School Streets’ initiative will see a pedestrian and cycle zone put into action between 8.15 am and 8.50 am and 2.30 pm and 3.30 pm on roads around Belvoirdale Community Primary School in Coalville and in my area, Anstey’s Latimer Primary School.
Both schools were involved in an original trial in the autumn of last year and signed up again after welcoming the initiative, which created a safe space for children and parents/carers to walk, cycle, scoot or ‘park and walk’ to school with temporary road closures for vehicles outside school gates.
This second trial started on 5th June and will continue until 12th July.
Residents of the affected streets are still able to use the road for access using a permit.
You can find out more information and submit your comments on the scheme here: https://www.choosehowyoumove.co.uk/schools/leicestershireschoolstreets/
