Feeding the Vulnerable and Needy:

Six months after the cuts to the Supporting People budget in Cornwall the effects of those cuts are starting to bite deeply. Nationally there is much coverage of the advent of FoodBank and Fareshare, and closer to home, close to my own heart, we have STAK (St Austell Community Kitchen) and other outlets catering to the most vulnerable in society.

You just know things are getting bad when the banks, who only two years ago were gorging themselves on supporting finance from the taxpayer, are now implementing token schemes to give a few crumbs of that money back to the society from whence it came.

This is not a rant about banks or big business, that can be saved for another time. This is about living for today, and about trying to grab some of those crumbs as they fall. NatWest are operating a Community Force initiative, whereby local people can vote for local good causes, and the "winners" will receive grants of up to £6,000.

St Austell and South Cornwall is one such area, and there are three "prizes" of £6,000 up for grabs. There are fifty nine good causes in the running, and whilst I know of most of them, and whilst I recognise the good that they all do, for my money there really are two main contenders. I could ask you to vote for both, and indeed I do ask that you vote for both.

However, in our "Big Society" it is true that "we are all in this together." So, in spreading the word around I will leave it to another organisation, not in the running for one of these grants but nevertheless catering to the same social demographic, to make the appeal on behalf of STAK and FoodBank. Cosgarne Hall residents use both of these services, and the Principal of Cosgarne, John Coventry, has engaged with us in helping to raise awareness of these issues.

John's appeal can be found by clicking this link: "Please help two important services for homeless people."  Thank you John, from all at STAK.

Alternatively, you can just click here to go straight to the STAK voting page on NatWest Community Force.

Council Tax payments by Cornwall Councillors:

On 12 August, following a Freedom of Information request, it was revealed in the Local Press that 17 of the 123 Cornwall Councillors had been sent a reminder to pay their Council Tax. It was also revealed that 14 Councillors needed to be sent a second reminder, and that at least one Councillor was taken to Court before finally settling his/her bill.

These are the people who decide on the level of Council Tax that hard working Cornish people have to pay by law, and also how the money is spent. In these tough economic times these Councillors also decide what cuts are to be made to services across Cornwall.

Earlier this month I put two questions to the Council Leader at the full Council meeting. I asked if Cllr Robertson believed that these Councillors should be publicly named? Cllr Robertson replied that he believed all Councillors should pay their Council Tax on time. However, the Council has a duty under the Data Protection Act, and is therefore unable to name Councillors individually.

I also asked if the Leader believed that there should be a voluntary register for Councillors to declare that they have paid their Council Tax on time. Although he agreed this would serve a useful purpose, it does not look as though this will happen anytime soon.

I believe that the voters of Cornwall have a right to know whether or not the people they voted for are fulfilling their duty by paying their Council Tax. I therefore have a suggestion: the people of Cornwall, who like me believe this is an important issue, should all write to their local Councillor to ask them directly if they have paid their Council Tax on time during their time in office. This will then give those who have done so the opportunity to remove themselves from any suspicion, and hopefully bring those who haven’t been paying on time out into the open.

I have written to my local Councillor, and have been assured that he pays on time. All Cornish people have a right to know that their elected Councillor plays by the rules, and I urge everyone to write to their own Councillor for a similar reassurance.

If you wish to hear my questions to the full Council, and the responses from Councillor Robertson, you can do so by watching the webcast of the  full Council session by clicking this link:

Full Council Session - 06 September 2011 

To go straight to the public questions and answers simply fast forward the recording to about 19 minutes in from the beginning.

UPDATES:

Ooooh, they are a bit naughty in the West Country. It seems that Councillors in West Somerset are cut from the same cloth as those in Cornwall. Six out of twenty eight Councillors needed to be sent at least one reminder for settlement of Council Tax for the 2010-2011 period.

Full story here.

And still some Councillors just don't get it. They are elected by the people to represent and work for the people, they are paid by the people and decide what level of Council Tax the people pay, and indeed what services the people can expect in return for those Taxes.

When the people and the local media start to ask relevant and, let's face it, very simple and straightforward questions, then these Councillors could reasonably be expected to respond civilly and with good grace. Why all the paranoia, petulance and sniping? The Packet reports on this yet again:

The Packet - 12 October

Not only should those Councillors who were taken to Court for late or non-payment of Council Tax be named, but also those who willfully, stubbornly and rudely refuse to answer legitimate questions.

Why do people never learn? This didn't start off as a witch hunt, but the attitude of some Councillors, presumably those who have something to hide, is turning an opportunity for openness into a situation that will only get worse as time goes on, and obviously will result in them being shamed as well as named.

The Packet - 13 October

42 Councillors have now declared their timely, or otherwise, Council Tax payments. It is only a process of elimination, with more responses, that will root out those with something to hide.

Hopefully the Council will take action against those Councillors who have refused to engage with the Cornish people in the proper fashion, and will stick by those (few) Councillors who have made mistakes and admitted to them.

The Packet - 20 October

The story rumbles ever onwards, with much consideration now being given to those Cornwall Councillors who have yet to make a declaration, or who have yet to confirm to the Falmouth Packet whether or not they were taken to Court or sent a reminder about non-payment of Council Tax.

The new edition of the paper is out tomorrow - it will be interesting to see which Councillors have added their names to the list, and further narrowed down the likely candidates for consideration as suspects.

At last - Alex Folkes is finally named: BBC Link

A further update  - 2014 07 11:

My question to the Council as reported on the BBC:

And now the story has finally made it into the hallowed pages of Private Eye:

(apologies for any unintended breach of copyright)

Anarchy in the UK?

I think not. This mindless thuggery on the streets of our capital, a year before the city is the focus of world attention, is unacceptable and needs to be brought under control. It is 2011, and there is no place for this sort of behaviour in a supposedly civilised society.

We have an overstretched police force facing a well organised and well equipped army of thugs. Ken Livingstone may feel that these "troubles" are representative of deprivation, but that doesn't really square with the fact that they are all in contact with BlackBerries, keeping the situation very fluid and unpredictable.

The police need to crack down on this hard, perhaps with the help of the Army. Forget the human rights that these animals feel they have a right to ... in a civilised society only those who accept and abide by social norms deserve to be treated gently.

Punishments for offenders should be broad, including prison sentences for the arsonists, very large fines for the looters and a withdrawal of benefits for those unemployed thugs taking part, causing fear and panic on the streets of our cities.