August has been a quiet month, so we were able to get away for a week to Somerset. The weather was a bit rainy and windy, but both our dogs had a fantastic time running on the beaches every day.
I have attended a few meetings and I have started my first module of Leadership Training that I am undertaking this year. I now have another two modules to go to in September and October to complete the course.
I was pleased to be re-elected as the Chair of Leicester, Leicestershire, and Rutland, Police and Crime Panel at the AGM held on 26th July. We welcomed many new members, so I will be supporting them over the next few months to get them up to speed on this important panel.
I attended the ‘Breaking the Ground’ ceremony for the new Bowman Academy. In March 2019, the Department for Education confirmed that Leicestershire County Council’s bid to establish a special free school was approved. The Bowman Academy will be sited on the former St Botolphs Primary school site in Shepshed and is due to open in September 2024.
Leicestershire County Council were the only authority in the East Midlands to be successful in bidding for a special free school which will provide up to 60 places for children with Social, Emotional and Mental Health needs.
Facilities will include a Multi-Use Games Area (MUGA), a variety of classrooms, including science and art studios, as well as a music room, a sensory / immersion room and a quiet, calming room.
‘Bincident’
In a bid to prevent fires, Leicestershire County Council is calling for residents to dispose of batteries, disposable BBQs, and ashes responsibly.
In the last year, operations were temporarily disrupted at both Whetstone and Coalville recycling and household waste sites, when discarded batteries caught fire.
The council is supporting the ‘Don’t cause a ‘bincident’ campaign – led by the Environmental Services Association - to encourage householders to safely take flammable items to their local recycling and household waste site.
Whilst fires present a risk for the authority and its recycling facilities all year round, it is during the dry summer months that the risk of significant fires increases, caused by carelessly discarded items, as they can spread more quickly through drier waste material, with the potential to cause a major incident.
Every year, fire and rescue services attend at least 300 significant fires across England at recycling and waste management facilities. However, the total number of smaller unreported fire incidents is estimated to be considerably higher as hundreds of fires are extinguished by operators before the need to call emergency services.
These fires do not only put lives at risk but can disrupt waste services and damage the environment. Here is some helpful guidance:
- 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’re unable to remove the battery, recycle it together with your old electricals
- Be responsible when using a BBQ or fire pit by ensuring your coals and ashes are extinguished and fully cold before disposing of them at a recycling and household waste site.
You can find out more about recycling batteries, and disposing of ashes, BBQs, and coals responsibly in the county, and more about the dangers by visiting: www.lesswaste.org.uk
Hospital Discharge Grant
Unpaid carers can now qualify for a grant if they are supporting someone in Leicestershire who has recently been discharged from hospital. Carers often incur unexpected additional costs so they can now apply for a Leicestershire County Council funded grant which is available until 31st March 2024. To qualify for the grant, carers will need to show that the cared-for person:
- Lives in Leicestershire
- Has been discharged from hospital during the past four weeks (at the time of applying)
- Needs the carer for help and support to keep them safe
- Needs a level of support that has seen additional costs for the carer since the hospital discharge. This includes a loss of income due to taking time off work.
The council co-ordinated initiative will be administered by Voluntary South Action Leicestershire (VASL) on behalf of the county council. Carers must apply within four weeks of the person they care for being discharged from hospital by completing the online application form on the ‘Support for Carers’ website: https://www.supportforcarers.org/hospital-discharge-grant
Alternatively, carers can call VASL on 01858 468543 or email [email protected] and the team will complete the application form on their behalf.
Family Hubs
I have been delighted over the past few months to officially open the 'Big Six' Family Hubs. Family Hubs are places parents and carers of children aged between 0-19 (or 25 for young people with special educational needs or disabilities) can visit to receive a whole host of information, signposting or support and guidance on a range of topics including parenting, family health, relationships, education, employment and more.
The ‘Big Six’ Hubs now open can be found in:
- Coalville Children and Family Wellbeing Centre
- Loughborough West Children and Family Wellbeing Centre
- Venture House Melton Children and Family Wellbeing Centre
- Hinckley Granville Children and Family Wellbeing Centre
- Market Harborough Children and Family Wellbeing Centre
- Wigston Magna Children and Family Wellbeing Centre
With six of the main hubs now open in key locations, more hubs are to be rolled-out from September in towns and villages. With locations of over 20 physical hubs confirmed, the full network of hubs is expected to be open and operational by spring 2024.
The new Family Hubs website (https://www.familyhubsleicestershire.org.uk/) is due to launch at the end of the year. This website will function as a portal, enabling families, young people, and professionals to access a full range of information and advice.
Leicestershire is one of 12 local authorities to secure a slice of a £12m pot of grant funding to transform the way services are delivered for families.
For more information on Family Hubs in Leicestershire, you can email [email protected]
Energy Bills
Leicestershire County Council has been awarded grant funding of £6.8 million to help households reduce their energy bills The ‘Home Upgrade Grant funding’ is available to homes without mains gas central heating. Funding is available to homeowners and private tenants of landlords with small property portfolios.
Around 350 households across Leicestershire are set to benefit after the county council, in partnership with district authorities, was awarded £6.8 million by the government over the next two years to support the installation of energy efficiency improvements, which will reduce energy costs as well as making households warmer and greener.
The ‘Home Upgrade Grant funding’ is available to homes without mains gas central heating living in priority neighbourhood postcodes, and more widely where the annual household income is below £31,000, or where a member of the household receives certain benefits. Funding is targeted at homes where the main source of heating is something other than mains gas, such as electric, heating oil, LPG, or solid fuel. Households that only use gas for cooking or secondary room heating can still apply.
For more information on the grants, including the full eligibility criteria, eligible postcode areas or to apply, visit the Green Living Leicestershire Home Upgrade Grant web page (https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/leisure-and-community/community-schemes-and-funding/green-living-leicestershire-home-upgrade-grant-hug) or call YES Energy Solutions on 03309 126 199.
Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP)
Continuing with the County Councill’s programme of work to inform the Council’s approach to providing enhanced cycling, walking, and wheeling facilities in the County, a public engagement launched in August, asking for views on the draft Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) for the Loughborough area and South of Leicester area.
As many residents as possible are encouraged to have their say on the draft plans by accessing the online engagement here: https://www.leicestershire.gov.uk/lcwip
The engagement will run for 4 weeks (from Tuesday 15th August to Tuesday 12th September) and responses will be considered to help inform the final plans.
LCWIP’s set out the vision and key priorities for infrastructure improvements in each of the areas, to create attractive, joined-up cycling and walking networks, encouraging, and enabling people to travel more actively. LCWIP’s are also key in helping to secure funding to deliver these improvements via Government bidding opportunities and securing developer contributions.
The LCWIPs will be finalised and presented to the Cabinet for approval later this year.
Leicestershire Trading Standards
One of the responsibilities under my Leicestershire County Council portfolio is Trading Standards.
Almost 440,000 potentially dangerous or non-compliant items have been intercepted and seized by Leicestershire Trading Standards at East Midlands Airport during the past year.
The seizures are worth more than £15.3m and include electrical goods which could overheat and cause fires, toys that failed to meet UK safety standards, jewellery with high levels of hazardous metals, and cosmetics containing toxic ingredients.
All these unsafe items have now been stopped from making it into shops and online marketplaces. They are all sent to a specialist disposal firm for recycling.
The Trading Standards team works in partnership with Border Force on the nationally funded project at East Midlands Airport. The partnership is intelligence-led, which means that Trading Standards and Border Force can target resources in the areas of highest risk, with potentially unlawful and non-compliant consignments being identified, targeted, and then intercepted.
Most of the seized items are destined for sale at large online marketplaces, where they are sold on behalf of the importer.
East Midlands Airport is the UK’s second busiest cargo airport, handling more than 320,000 tonnes of flown cargo each year. The role of Trading Standards and Border Force is to examine imported items and take enforcement action, to ensure that consumers are not exposed to unsafe and dangerous products.
A video showing a Leicestershire Trading Standards officer examining a consignment of unsafe goods can be seen there:
