October started with cake. I popped into ‘The Linford’ in Newtown Linford on Saturday 1st October to support the Macmillan coffee morning. I was accompanied by Cllr Snartt and enjoyed chatting with residents, whilst supporting a good cause.
On Sunday I headed off to Birmingham to attend the Conservative Party Conference. I stayed for the whole conference with many colleagues from Leicestershire also attending. There were some great fringe events, and I learned many new things, that will help me with local work. It was also an opportunity to lobby Ministers about the need for more funding for Local Authorities to ensure they are funded fairly and enable them to provide vital services for their residents.
Once back in Leicestershire, I was kept very busy with many internal meetings and issues to deal with.
I spent a couple of weeks, working with partners, to put in place a plan to mitigate the impact on the village whilst Anstey Nomads held their FA Cup football match with Chesterfield. The Club provided parking at Martin High School for away supporters, which was a great help to ensure that local roads could flow, bus services could run whilst the village and fans could enjoy the football match.
I have also been working hard with county-wide issues for school admissions and specialist school places for children with additional needs. I also received feedback from council officers following the pilot of the ‘School Streets Scheme’ at Latimer Primary School.
I was part of the ‘TSIL’ (Transforming SEND* and Inclusion in Leicestershire) online launch. This is work ongoing at the council to transform how we support children and young people with additional needs to ensure they are in the right place at the right time for their educational requirements.
*Special Education Needs and Disabilities
It has also been announced that we are part of the Government’s ‘Delivering Better Value in SEND’ (DVB) program. This is in partnership with consultants, Newton Europe. As Leicestershire County Council is in Tranche One, I have met the Lead for this program at the council. This program works towards supporting local authorities to improve the delivery of SEND services for children and young people whilst ensuring services are sustainable. The first workload is the diagnostic stage, and aims through robust evidence gathering and system engagement, to support authorities to identify the most impactful changes that can be made to improve outcomes for children and young people with SEND.
On Sunday 16th October, I was honoured to be at Beaumanor Hall to hear from our regional Children in Care Councils at their very first conference. Their residential two-day conference was about the language that we use as professionals and how we need to change this and listen to our young people’s voices.
An example of such language is that care professionals label where a young person is living in care as their ‘placement’. However, to a young person, this 'placement' (connoting no warmth at all!) is their home. Therefore, it stands to reason that what professionals should be calling a young person's 'placement' is their 'home'. This sounds simple and obvious but local councils can sometimes, if not careful with wording, appear uncaring in their attempt to be dispassionate and fair.
The conference was attended by 27 young people who are in care, and I was so proud of them for all the hard work that they had put into the conference and their excellent presentations to senior leaders on the final afternoon.
Financial Challenge
Leicestershire County Council’s budget gap is set to grow from £8m to £28m next year – and could even top £140m by 2026.
A key report has been published that states that the council is in new territory and explains that global events, rising inflation – expected to continue to rise despite recent interventions - surging demand for local services, and the continued impact of Covid, mean costs are increasing at an unprecedented rate.
The report reveals that the nationally agreed pay offer alone requires the council to find an extra £8m, whilst every 50p added to the National Living Wage costs over £10m per year. Inflation is also expected to add another £20-to-£30m every year for the next four years.
Although there are no firm proposals at this stage, the report illustrates the challenge ahead by providing an initial list of potential areas for possible service changes or reductions. These include road gritting, parks, bus subsidies, projects reducing smoking and boosting health, and planned big road schemes.
This link is here for further information: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/news/sobering-report-sets-out-dire-financial-challenge
Waste Sites
The seasonal change in opening hours for Leicestershire’s recycling and household waste sites has now come into effect.
From Saturday 1st October 2022 to 31st March 2023, autumn and winter opening times apply, with all county council waste site opening times changing to 9 am to 4 pm, on the days that they are open. The last entry will be at 3.55 pm.
Sites at Lount, Lutterworth, Melton, Mountsorrel, and Whetstone are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Barwell, Coalville, Loughborough, Market Harborough, and Oadby sites are closed on Thursdays and Fridays. Shepshed is closed from Sunday to Wednesday.
Adult Numeracy Project
£3 million in government funding has been secured by the council. This will fund a three-year programme that will help adults in Leicestershire to improve their numeracy skills and enable businesses to upskill their workforces.
‘Multiply’ is a £559 million national programme funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), which is designed to help spread opportunity and level up the country.
Earlier this year, Leicestershire County Council submitted a plan to the Department for Education for a £3 million slice of the UKSPF to allow it to deliver the national Multiply programme locally. This means the council will now be able to deliver hundreds of free courses, wrap-around support, and workshops, over the next three years.
‘Multiply’ will be led by the county council’s Adult Learning Service, working with partners including further education colleges and training providers, charitable and voluntary groups, and employers to deliver free numeracy courses and programmes throughout the county, to help people improve their numeracy skills.
The ‘Multiply’ programme aims to level up opportunities for more people by increasing their confidence with numbers, giving them the tools needed to improve their job prospects and life chances. It also aims to improve the financial well-being of individuals and families by supporting them in managing money, becoming financially self-sufficient and ensuring parents support their children with numeracy-based homework.
Anyone aged 19 or over who fits the criteria will be eligible for these free courses - but there will be a particular focus on supporting hard-to-reach learners and those who may not traditionally engage with adult learning courses.
Education skills, and training deprivation has been highlighted as a key issue within Leicestershire, with low numeracy skills acting as a barrier to employment for a large number of residents, particularly for the county’s largest employment sectors - manufacturing, technical, and retail.
Leicester Orbital Bus
A new Orbital Bus Service has been launched, serving key shopping and workplace hubs, including General Hospital, Oadby, Wigston, Fosse Park, Thorpe Astley, Glenfield, Glenfield Hospital, Beaumont Leys, Rushey Mead, Hamilton, and Nether Hall. The new Orbital Bus will be part of the Greenlines Electric Network with links to the Hospital Hopper service at General Hospital, Glenfield Hospital, Beaumont Leys, and Hamilton.
The service will run every hour, Monday to Saturday, and operates in a clockwise and anticlockwise direction.
This service is operated by Centrebus.
Further details can be found here: https://www.leicesterbuses.co.uk/orbital
Digital Leicestershire Matters
The County Council already delivers a paper copy of Leicestershire Matters to all residents three times a year.
There is now a new digital, which, is sent out approx. every couple of weeks and includes up-to-date information on services and council news.
You can sign up using the link below.
https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/news/digital-leicestershire-matters-sign-up
Winter Vaccines
This winter it is expected that many respiratory infections, including COVID-19 and flu, may be circulating at high levels – this may put increasing pressure on hospitals and other healthcare services. For these reasons, people aged 50 years and over, those in care homes, and those aged 5 years and over in clinical risk groups are being offered an autumn booster of the COVID-19 vaccine.
The flu vaccine is given free on the NHS to adults who:
- are 50 and over (including those who will be 50 by 31 March 2023)
- have certain health conditions
- are pregnant
- are in long-stay residential care
- receive a carer's allowance, or are the main carer for an older or disabled person who may be at risk if you get sick
- live with someone more likely to get a severe infection due to a weakened immune system, such as someone living with HIV, someone who has had a transplant, or is having certain treatments for cancer, lupus, or rheumatoid arthritis.
Further information on both the Covid-19 booster and flu vaccinations is available on the NHS website: www.nhs.uk There is a local drive-through vaccinations site at County Hall.
If you have any issues or concerns, I’m here to help.
