Pheasey Park Farm Labour

Leading Walsall Tory agrees with Labour

2012-01-26T16:22:00.000-08:00

You would have noticed that the Tory government have been following a lot of Labour themes recently. Ed Miliband at conference in September led the debate at the time on the state of capitalism. at the time the right leaped on it saying it was anti business.

Now of course we have Cameron taking up the same themes and copying the rhetoric but lacking the action . Today's classic example was the RBS boss Stephen Hestor being awarded a million pound bonus and the government had the power to stop it but did not.

Hollow words.

However in Walsall are Tory attitudes different ? In fact do they agree with Ed and labour on RBS and agree the bonuses should be stopped. Well leading conservative councillor Garry Perry of Pelsall the current Lord Mayor used the Mayor twitter feed to post this, which was 'retweeted' by this blog.

When he had realised what he had done it was quickly deleted but too late. It is clear what a grassroots Tory thinks and it is clear action should be taken against the obscene bonus when RBS LOST money.

Garry has been a great Lord Mayor for Walsall but this slip reveals a deeper insight in the Tory thinking and how the centre ground on capitalism is actually moving left.

I welcome Garry to the red corner on this.

Mike Bird's U-Turn again over expenses

2012-01-09T12:13:00.000-08:00

Maybe we should be used to this but in tonight's council meeting Mike Bird has yet again made a big u-turn over the expenses row, he himself created. From the Walsall Council Twitter feed we hear this

Members allowances are being discussed. Cllr Bird suggests retaining status quo http://t.co/3CdFh4DF

then a few minutes later

After contributions from all sides the independent recommendation to increase members allowance has been rejected

No doubt Mike, Andrew and Chris will attempt to say they are replying to public opinion and listening but that is frankly rubbish. If you listen to the BBC Radio WM interview with Mike he was in no doubt that he supported the findings to increase the allowances.

The u-turn should remind the voters of Pheasey Park Farm and Orchard Hills of what the Tories in control are like and can not be trusted.

The Express and Star tried to be kind to Mike HERE

The final vote was 28-27 in favour of retaining the current system with all 27 Labour councillors voting AGAINST the status quo not in FAVOUR of the increases. As per our press release HERE we wanted a total re-organisation of allowances within the current budget.

Pheasey councillors to vote themselves large rises

2012-01-05T14:27:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to all the residents of Pheasey Park Farm and Orchard Hills. I hope that 2012 will work out well for you but always thinking of those who will struggle this year to live their lives.

For the leaders of Walsall Council this seems like less of a problem. Whilst the residents of this ward continue to struggle in these harsh economic times the Tory Cabinet councillors for this ward are looking forward to a very good new Year, well at least until May for Adrian Andrew.

EXPRESS & STAR Link - rise of £6,700 for senior councillors

Of course this story is hardly new, back in November 201 we posted this piece on Mike Bird backing down then from large allowance rises. We could be cynical of course and say that Mike, Chris and Adrian manufactured this so they look good in saying no and trying to save their jobs in and seat in May. There are issues over allowances, Labour leader Tim Oliver has suggested looking at the whole structure within the current budget but to try and pass blanket rises is just wrong in these times when many of us have not even had inflation wage rises, public or private sector.

It is not fair on Walsall council tax payers and workers to listen to Mike Bird on Radio WM hiding behind an independent review and back it's recommendations at this particular time. We call for the Tories to work Labour after May and agree a policy for expenses that will last the test of time.

On Monday the proposals go before the full council to be voted upon, we will note how the vote goes and we challenge our councillors to vote against these proposals. As the Lib Dem's hold the balance of power in the council it is up to them on how the result goes.

Tina Jukes wins for Labour

2011-12-22T15:37:00.000-08:00

On a low turnout for a by-election of 15.9% but not surprising given the closeness to Xmas, Tina Jukes defended the Birchills seat of the late Joan Barton

Results thanks to Walsall council

Birchills-Leamore: Lab hold.

Tina Jukes (Lab): 835; 53%
Kamran Aftab (Con) 512; 32%
Chris Newey (Eng Dem) 130; 8%
Liz Hazell (UKIP) 59; 4%
L Gebrakedan (Green) 46. 3%

Tina will be an excellent councillor for the people of Birchills-Leamore.

This result once again sees Labour and Conservatives at 27 seats each, Lib Dems with 5 and an independent.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

2011-12-22T13:49:00.000-08:00

Pheasey Park Farm and Orchard Hills Labour party would like to wish all residents a Happy Christmas and New Year.

Lets hope 2012 is better for all residents in 2012 and that we do see improvements in this ward and we can progress forward. For the Labour party in Walsall 2012 is a very important year for taking control of Walsall council and we will do our very best to get a Labour Councillor for the ward.

Earlier in the New Year we will introduce our candidate for the May elections and we are excited by the prospect of winning the seat.

Birchills by-election called

2011-11-15T12:28:00.001-08:00

You can not deny the value of democracy and the rules allow for any two people in the borough of Walsall to call a vacant by election. However you have to query why someone would call the Birchills by election following the sad death of Joan Barton.

It does have to be remembered that Joan was the retiring councillor for the May 2012 election so like in Bloxwich East the seat will be fought again in just 6 months time.

So for an election believe or not for the 22nd December when turnout will be minimal the Council has incurred an extra cost for holding this election when it was not needed. The existing two councillors could have took on the extra workload for a few months with no democratic deficit.

I would hope on reflection those that called this by-election now regret their actions and costing the council some valuable cash.

Labour GAIN Sparkbrook

2011-11-10T16:07:00.001-08:00

Well done to the Labour team in Birmingham Sparkbrook for a GAIN in a by election caused by Salma Yaqoob's resignation due to ill health.

Lab 3932, Res 2301, LD 395, Green 179, Con 133

Lab 56.7, RU 33.2, L Dem 5.7, GP 2.6, C 1.9

Great result for Victoria Quinn and one step closer to Labour control of Birmingham in 2012 along with hopefully Walsall

Drop the Bill is essential for the survival of the NHS

2011-11-08T13:34:00.000-08:00

Labour today launched a public petition urging people to sign to prevent the NHS bill the government have agreed from going through.

The petition can be found HERE and we urge the residents of Pheasey to sign it.

Please do not listen to the spin emanating from the Government. At every step to justify a totally unnecessary and expensive top down reorganisation of the NHS they keep saying how poor the NHS is doing. This is simply NOT TRUE.

The truth lies in cancer figures showing us to be world leaders - LINK in this area. This is not what the Tories are telling you.

The truth lies in research showing the NHS to be the second most efficient system in the world - LINK. This is not what the Tories are telling you.

They now have their list of donors lining up to take tax payers money as their profits with no evidence that this will increase health outcomes. In fact recent experience of the NHS shows us that with restricted budgets, so called efficiency savings and a totally unwanted reorganisation the NHS is NOT SAFE in their hands at all.

We ask you to challenge the Tory councillors on Pheasey about this and ensure your voice is heard loud and clear.

Councillor Joan Barton

2011-10-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

Pheasey Labour wish to pass on our condolences to family and friends for the sad passing of Labour councillor Joan Barton who stood for 13 years as a councillor for Birchills-Leamore.

She was widely respected by all in the Labour party and the wider political world and will be a loss to everyone who knew her and she helped.

RIP

Support the e-peitition to ban cash trades in scrap

2011-10-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

In our recent survey one issue that came out near the top was the endless vans we see around the estate picking up scrap. One person in particular was very angry that one of these people actually stole from their drive some metal that was not actually scrap but being used for a kitchen refurbishment.

So therefore we are happy to support Walsall Council's call to ban cash trades in the scrap industry and would encourage everyone to support this e-petition

https://submissions.epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/406

Today Yvette Cooper the shadow Home Secretary made the call for the government to back action on this trade

http://www.yvettecooper.com/metal-theft-is-becoming-an-epidemic-and-urgent-action-is-needed-?Init=d5d4058b-8a66-8564-adc4-12c9861ad0b7

So please get in touch with the Pheasey councillors and also Valerie Vaz to register your complaint at this trade which often leaves us with a very poor environmental outcome. Remember all scrap can be took to Aldridge Waste Tip and they know how to dispose of it properly.

Great Win for Labour in Bloxwich East

2011-10-27T16:44:00.001-07:00

Congratulations to Julie Fitzpatrick on a great win for Labour in the Bloxwich East by Election

Lab 922, Con 834, UKIP 98, ED 49, Grn 16.

Pheasey Labour wishes to extend our congratulations to Julie and on the council it is now

Labour 27
Conservative 27
Lib Dem 5
Independent 1

A fantastic 19% swing from Tory to Labour of 19%

The Conservatives now have control only by the Mayor casting vote and you have to ask yourself why they called the by election as the winner had to face the electorate again in May 2012.

Bruce George gets the Freedom of Walsall

2011-10-21T13:51:00.000-07:00

We were very proud to have been invited to witness Bruce George receiving the Freedom of Walsall from the council tonight.

This was a very proud occasion for Bruce and there is no one in Walsall who deserves it more. For more than 30 years he gave his all to the borough. He at times united both Tory and Labour voters into supporting someone who never gave up on the Town when many did.

Well done to Mike Bird for seconding the proposal and giving a very funny speech that showed the political enemies can unite when recognising the service given by one person.

Bruce in his speech was witty and remembering how he was selected for what he admitted was not a Labour target seat and yet he won and from then on there was no stopping him. I am proud that Bruce lives in our ward and is a remember of our branch and proud to say the branch helped in every way possible to get re-elected.

Congratulations Bruce on the Award and it is not like you have retired !

NHS - Remember who to blame - Tories

2011-10-12T12:35:00.000-07:00

Of course today's main news was the awful unemployment figures across the country. Here in Walsall south the unemployment rate has gone above 11% and think about all the lost opportunities that represents. However that news is not only the bad news today and something may have passed you by.

Members of Pheasey Park Farm Labour are passionate about the NHS and what it provides to the people of our area. Today the House of Lords thanks to almost unanimous Lib Dem support voted for the virtual dismantling of the NHS as we know and love it. The bill passed one of it's last hurdles today to being given Royal Assent later in the year and this will be a disaster for the people of this area.

It will mean contrary to what the Tories tell you that the power passes from the people under democratic control of elected MP's to small quango's with no democratic control and no need to answer to the patients. If you want treatment at say Sandwell hospital because it is easy to get to, forget it the Doctor will send you to the place where the best deal THEY get is.

If that means Russell's Hall in Dudley, so be it.

Do not believe the Tory story about increased funding, in inflation terms it is well below that and we have already seen Doctors elsewhere in the country stop simple treatments and advise on private treatment. In a health centre in York, GP's are offering minor surgery for upto £250 that they have stopped referring patients to the NHS and set up their own private clinic. - LINK

If you can afford it, you get your treatment, if not, tough, that is TORY WORLD for you.

We left the NHS in the best health it had for decades with high satisfaction levels and high up when measured against similar sized economies. These reforms were not needed to fix something broken but done because some Tories hate the NHS, never forget that.

So here in Pheasey we wish to track on any issues with local NHS provision and the effect of the Tory policy on it. If you have an experience of this please email in confidence to our email address at

pheaseylabour@virginmedia.com

As per Data Protection rules we will ensure the privacy of any information you give us.

The cheek of James Morris MP

2011-09-14T12:26:00.000-07:00

We do not normally comment on matters outside of Walsall but this piece of hypocrisy deserves a comment.

James Morris the Tory MP for Halesowen and Rowley Regis may be feeling under a bit of pressure this after the boundary review. The review basically left him and Margot James in a two way Tory scrap for a seat that will be safe for them. Maybe what he has put on his website is understandable in this context and trying to save local services.

However what he has done is to put up a petition which states

“We the undersigned call for West Midlands Fire Service to reconsider both the decision to merge Halesowen and Cradley Heath fire stations and the proposal to reduce the number of fire engines from two to one.”

LINK

For those of us in the Labour camp we find it very galling a MP who supports every cuts policy of HIS government line by line then to have the cheek and the nerve to complain about the very cuts he supports. He has helped impose the cuts the fire service has to make and say he won it means another area would have to suffer even deeper cuts.

Is that fair ?

Is that 'everyone in it together' ?

If his constituents are worried about this (and they should be) then the person they should be petitioning appears to their very own MP.

Pheasey STAYS in Walsall South

2011-09-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

As expected the proposals for the West Midlands has been leaked onto Guido Fawkes site

LINK

And it is a shock that Pheasey has stayed in Walsall South

Walsall South BC 76,985

Oscott Birmingham 18,107
Great Barr with Yew Tree Sandwell 9,708
Paddock Walsall 9,563
Palfrey Walsall 10,272
Pheasey Park Farm Walsall 8,728
St Matthew’s Walsall 9,706
Streetly Walsall 10,901

In our view a complete mess of three areas in one seat.

The other Walsall seats are

Walsall North BC 75,279

Aldridge Central and South Walsall 10,907
Aldridge North and Walsall Wood Walsall 10,134
Blakenall Walsall 8,402
Bloxwich East Walsall 8,563
Bloxwich West Walsall 9,709
Brownhills Walsall 9,537
Pelsall Walsall 9,061
Rushall-Shelfield Walsall 8,966

Walsall West BC 75,645

Bentley and Darlaston North Walsall 9,099
Birchills Leamore Walsall 9,361
Darlaston South Walsall 9,338
Pleck Walsall 9,376
Short Heath Walsall 9,086
Willenhall North Walsall 9,578
Willenhall South Walsall 10,769
Bilston East Wolverhampton 9,038

The boundary comission have certainly not held back from making radical decisions and some of the Brimingham seats are barmy, for example Kingstanding being put into Sutton, expect changes.

New Boundary proposals out Soon

2011-09-12T05:13:00.000-07:00

A few months ago we discussed the future of Pheasey ward under the new boundary proposals.

LINK

As from midnight we will find out what the electoral comission will propose (though Valerie now has her copy, please let us know Valerie !!) and this will inevitably lead to a move away from the boundaries we have known for a generation.

As soon as we find out will post it here and also for the whole of Walsall and the West Midlands.

The best guess is that Pheasey may well stay within a Walsall MP's area. This is mainly because wherever possible wards will NOT be split but for us that does make sense given the huge gap between Pheasey and Orchard Hills.

Sad passing of Bill Tweddle

2011-09-06T05:11:00.000-07:00

On behalf of the Pheasey Park Farm Labour party we wish to pass on sincere condolences to the family, friends and conservative colleagues on the sad passing of Bill Tweddle the Conservative councillor for Bloxwich East.

Bill has fought a long battle against illness and served Bloxwich East for 11 years.

Planning regulations remove local control

2011-09-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

In Pheasey we are all well aware of battles over planning and the troubles and worry it can bring to local residents. The example we saw with the Nether Hall development shows that the planning system is not something that is easily fixed nor should be messed about with unless it is clear as to what the end aims are.

We have seen this week concerns from all the political spectrum and including bodies like the National Trust over the Conservative/Lib Dem government's planning proposals.

The proposals can be seen HERE .

What the government have done is that unless stated otherwise in local plans and protected sites then any development will have

Presumption in favour of sustainable development

In other words this line will simply override any local concerns or any action the local elected councillors will have. They and the residents according to this statement will be powerless to stop developments as they will have the presumption to accept in their favour.

This of course goes against their own Localism Bill which they claim is about giving power to the local residents. However planning issues can often lead to the greatest of battles and now a lot of power is removed from the local people and their elected representatives.

We saw this presumption work with the telephone mast on Beacon Road and just how it failed.

Valerie Vaz's August News

2011-09-02T11:07:00.000-07:00

It has been a very busy summer period for politicians with so much news going on it seems like politics never took a break. Valerie in the link below has given a brief summary of what has happened.

Valerie's August News

Can I personally thank Valerie for taking the time and effort to pursue the mast issue at the Cat and Fiddle and as she described her hard work looks like to have paid off.

It shows Labour on the ground working for residents is at it's very best.

Serco what price to pay ?

2011-07-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

The announcement by Mike Bird of the cancellation of the dreaded Serco education contract is a sign of failure of the Conservatives policies to privatise the provision of education in the borough. A costly experiment that cost people their local schools and the tax payer a great deal of money.

The question that Mike Bird has failed to answer is a simple one

How much will the cancellation of the contract cost Walsall tax payers ?

In times where money is very tight for us all this is a question the Tories MUST answer sooner rather than later.

Labour councillors see off Tory plans to charge blue badge holders

2011-07-21T14:05:00.000-07:00

In the Express and Star (20/07/11) they have carried a story that disgraceful plans to charge blue badge holders has been dropped by Walsall Council.

LINK

In this they quote the Tory Councillor Tom Ansell

“At this stage we are not introducing charges for blue badge holders. It is not the appropriate time to introduce new charges when we are already looking at charges we have in existence.”

The truth of the matter is that these proposals went before the Environment Scrutiny Panel a few weeks ago. Labour councillors forced a vote on this proposal at which ONE Tory supported it and the rest of the Tories and LD's abstained.

The actions of the Labour councillors meant the cabinet and council were in no doubt that this was a decision too far and the amount of money raised for such a penal act was negligible in terms of the overall budget cuts.

Notice Tom Ansell's words he does not rule out the charges all together but uses the favourite Tory word of the moment 'appropriate'. This is what The Tory party think of the most disadvantaged in our society and in the dying days of their control of Walsall we have to be diligent at their actions to protect people.

Valerie Vaz battles for the Residents of Pheasey

2011-07-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

There is an ongoing debate raging over the phone mast at the corner of Beacon Road and just how it was allowed to be built.

In simple terms the owners of the mast are saying that they never received the notice of refusal from the council in the 56 days limit needed for such refusals. This is actually against the fact the refusal of the mast permission was put up on the Walsall Council website within days of the decision.

Walsall South MP Valerie Vaz has been contacting the council and vodafone on behalf of residents who have contacted her office and has issued this statement

I have spoken to Vodafone and I put it to them that their position on whether they received notice of refusal for planning permission should be argued before the Courts. I consider they were deemed to have notice. If they do not take down the mast, the consumers of Pheasey may not want to purchase Vodafone or O2 products. They told me they will meet with the Council on the 21 July. I hope they realise this is not an appropriate position for the mast

This is an issue we have been contacted on by residents locally and hopefully the hard work done by Valerie will pay off.

Pheasey say NO to the Post Office reforms

2011-06-19T11:07:00.000-07:00

This week the government's plans for the effective privatisation of the Post Office and Royal Mail gained Queen's assent is now law.

At the local election we delivered a targeted mail drop with a Royal Mail Questionnaire and we have just collated the results and the results are stunning.

We sent out 500 Questionnaires and of those returned (104) every single one was against the reforms that the Government have put through. These were spread across the political parties and shows that the people of our ward have sent out a strong message to those in power.

They do NOT want to see any reduction in service provided by the Post Office and the Royal Mail.

Pheasey Labour Party pledges to stand behind the residents in the protection of their services. If you have any concerns then please e-mail us at pheaseylabour@virginmedia.com or write to

Pheasey Park Farm Labour Team
Freepost ESKG-TSHY-HUER
Walsall Labour Party
Bellamy House
Wilkes Street
Willenhall
WV13 2BS

The true intention of the Tories over the NHS

2011-05-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

If there is one issue that effects ALL the residents of Pheasey is the future of the NHS and the current debate over the NHS reforms is worrying for all of us. On a local labour blog I make no apology for the amount of posts about the NHS because it something the Pheasey Labour party care deeply about.

Whilst the current proposals are 'frozen' Cameron brought in an advisor, he is called Mark Britnell and on political scrapbook they have highlighted what he has said in a conference to health professionals.

“In future, the NHS will be a state insurance provider not a state deliverer.”

“The NHS will be shown no mercy and the best time to take advantage of this will be in the next couple of years.”

There is little doubt in our minds what the Tory reforms wish to do and what they will lead to. They want to deliver the cherished ideas of the extreme right wing free marketers of complete destruction of the NHS to be replaced by private insurance.

All reliant on the the ability to pay.

When you think about politics over the next 12 months do not be fooled by the spin because the true direction can be easily seen in these words.

The review is nothing but a sham to appease the Lib Dems.

Tick Tock, Will the LD's finally make up their mind

2011-05-12T12:25:00.000-07:00

Nearly a week after the Walsall local elections we are no closer to knowing what Ian Shires and his 4 other councillors will do.

It is not like Ian did not know what was coming in the election ,we all knew it would be a hung council and surely he must have known where he fancied going. To give him credit he has launched a consultation but his demands ion effect to end cabinet government is something he knows neither party will agree to.

So I think after a week if he really is in doubt what to do then he must simply leave a minority Conservative group in control until 2012. This will make the 2012 budget setting very interesting of course as the Tories will be forced to horse trade. Which will leave the LD's in a strong position to protect their two wards at the expense of others.

Lets be honest can anyone see him do a deal with Labour despite what the voters said 7 days ago ?

For Pheasey this will lead to uncertainty over the future of services on the estate and especially the future of the Library which is to be decided.

Rest assured YOUR local Labour Party are closely watching the situation.

If you was Ian Shires, what would YOU do ?

2011-05-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

Friday's results in Walsall gave everyone in Labour a big boost. We won all but one of the target seats and only lost in Rushall by a fraction leaving a hung council and once again Ian Shires the LD leader in the position of kingmaker.

When he was in the same position a few years ago he sided with the Tories to keep Labour out and this allowed them to build up their resources in the borough. On his blog he never missed a chance to have a go at Labour and I think there is no doubt where his political inclinations lie.

However times have now changed.

In the once impregnable Lib Dem strongholds he saw Labour fall by just 100 votes to capture Short Heath and an amazing result in Willenhall North where Gareth Illmann-Walker took the seat by 60 votes. This is of course is Shire's own ward and he is up for election next year, where I know that Gareth will mount a ferocious challenge to him.

What would you do if you was Iain ?

Would you prop up Mike Bird for one more year, when their cuts will really start to hurt locally and nationally ?

Would you really want to go into the 2012 elections having backed the Tories against Labour where we will be looking to take full control of the council ?

However as I said he would not want to go into partnership with Tim Oliver and the Labour party, there is no love lost there and I do not know how he could work with us.

Over the weekend we have heard rumours of an attempt at a 'rainbow alliance', impossible I would say and an attempt by Shires to go to Labour. However group meetings take place this week for Tory and Labour councillors and would you not want to be a fly in the wall at these ?

Whilst the last budget decisions can now not be changed clearly the decisions that Ian makes will shape the future of services to Pheasey residents in the years to come. Whoever is in power has to make to some difficult choices.

I do not envy his moral and political choice.

His decision appears to be to 'outsource' it to the voters, will this work ?

Thank you to the VOTERS and Labour do very well in PHEASEY

2011-05-06T08:37:00.000-07:00

First the results.

Bird, Mike	Conservative Party	1782**(H)
Grey, Steven George	United Kingdom Independence Party	429
Kelly, Jack Michael	Labour Party	1161
Newey, Christopher Martin	English Democrats-"Putting England First"	210
Willoughby, Anne	Liberal Democrats	104

This was a fantastic result for Jack and a 31% vote share is a big improvement on recent elections.

So thanks to everyone who voted Labour and we will work for all residents in the forthcoming year.

Thank you to our opponents who gave a fair fight on the issues and no personality attacks.

However it should be noted that without the large Orchard Hills vote for the Tories we actually won the vote in Pheasey and Park Farm Estates for the first time in many a year.

That is real and sustainable progress with no Lib Dem vote share to squeeze.

Vote JACK KELLY and LABOUR to fight for the residents

2011-05-04T08:14:00.000-07:00

A tough election campaign is coming to a close and the message on the doorstep has been clear to the current Tory run council.

The message is that the cuts are too far and too fast and too many people will struggle to cope when the full impact of the cuts will be seen. Of course Mike Bird ensured that any cuts will be seen after the election, he did what he could to protect the seats his party holds and his own.

However tomorrow will see the people of Pheasey Park Farm have their say on the cuts and we have to deliver a loud and clear message to the Tories that they do not have the support of the people for the current policies.

When Jack has spoken to the people of Pheasey they have made clear their priorities

good road surfaces
effective policing with a visible presence
a clean environment
protection of vital local services like the library, community centre and sure start centre
protection of our open green spaces, making them a place for people to enjoy
a strong planning policy ensuring residents views are the foremost concern

Pheasey Park Farm is a special place to live, it is a place where people will live their whole lives and see their kids stay on the estate. Jack understands this and will do his very best to protect what people love about the estate.

For the people of the estate there is only one strong voice who will stand up for the residents against the Tory policy and that is Jack.

Please vote for JACK KELLY and LABOUR on Thursday

Copper stolen again from Barr Beacon Monument

2011-04-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

Sad news this afternoon (thanks to Walsall Council's Twitter Feed) that for the second time in recent months the copper has been stolen from the top of the War Memorial at Barr Beacon.

Whether this is due to the misguided policy of closing Barr Beacon off at night it is not clear but clearly there is a major issue with security.

We implore Walsall Council to review the security at Barr Beacon and ensure this much loved monument is protected in a fitting way. At the moment it is a sitting duck for theives looking for quick profits.

Labour pledge to fight for Great Barr Hall's future as it goes up for sale

2011-04-27T08:35:00.000-07:00

It has been drawn to outr attention that Great Barr Hall is now up for sale for £2.2m we presume from the Manor Trust Charity.

The details are here on Rightmove.co.uk and they say

The Hall offers scope to be increased or reduced in size, and subject to consent, lends itself readily as a Boutique Hotel, Nursing Home or Company Headquarters. There may also be further scope for a bespoke residential development of one or two properties in their own prescribed lakeside position

Clearly we have to watch what happens now and who buys this valuable and historic land in our ward and affecting the residents of Park Farm.

Jack Kelly and the Pheasey Park Farm Labour Party pledges to fight any development of this land that will impact on the local residents and environment.

We will update this blog with any further news as we get it.

A Review of the campaign

2011-04-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

Well all you can say is if you wanted perfect weather for shoe leather and walking the streets the past two weeks could simply not have been any better.

In this weather things look so much better on Pheasey, standing on Doe Bank Lane and looking across Beacon as I did this morning could not have been any better. Whilst up there I was thinking of what a wonderful place we live and I hope in our campaign that has come over to the residents.

All together we have knocked over 750 doors, had 300 confirmed declarations of voting labour and a very good response on the doorstep. Of course not everyone agrees with us but even then it has all been friendly with some good banter.

With the leaflets we have had the 'Flying the Flag' special and also the Election address going out over this weekend. We have also had a targeted letter campaign to postal voters which we hope will have a positive effect as the votes are due in shortly.

There is also another special campaign planned for the last week of campaigning but we can not let our opponents know the details in advance can we :-)

Clearly this election could see a major change in the leadership of the council and when voting we urge the residents of Pheasey to think that there is always an alternative.

Alternatives which can save as much money as the Tory proposals and save the services we rely on.

A Local Doctor speaks - The New NHS Reforms and why I am concerned

2011-04-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

This was sent to myself this week, from lets call him 'Dr Smith'. Dr Smith works within a hospital in the NHS in the Midlands and has done so for the last 20 years. He has said he is a natural Conservative supporter who voted for them in 2010.

These are his words on the state of the NHS and should be heeded by all those government ministers who wish to change the NHS.

These words should be remembered when you vote on May 5th and vote for the party which is the only one that cares about the service in the NHS but we may not always get it right.

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I work as a doctor in the NHS and I just wanted to make my thoughts known about Andrew Lansley’s NHS reforms. I’d like to think that they largely stem from him but given the Conservative’s history on fucking up the NHS I’d like to think he isn’t acting completely alone.

The first thing I want to say is that I don’t think Labour can completely cover themselves in glory regarding the NHS. I’d also like to point out that I think it’s a near impossible job to try and cater for the needs of a population such as ours with a state-run NHS. New health technologies and more expensive treatments means the money needed to even stand still in health care is increasing exponentially.

Labour did some good things in the NHS. In Tony Blair’s first few years in office waiting times were cut – instead of waiting 18 months for a heart bypass operation you now wait only 6-8 weeks on average. The postcode lottery of healthcare was identified and attempts made to ensure uniformity by setting national guidelines and standards for healthcare. Labour ensured more nurses; doctors and other healthcare workers were recruited.

On the flip side the bureaucracy became ever increasing and complex and the setting up of Primary Care Trusts to manage budgets for health authorities. Management within a hospital became complex and the amount of money being put into the NHS increased with ever diminishing returns.

What Andrew Lansley has attempted to do is re-write the NHS. But he has done it without really consulting the people who work within it. Budgets that were being held by the PCT’s are now being handed over to GP Commissioning bodies. What do GP’s know about budgets??? I know in my time in medical school we did nothing on accounting and finance yet the government expects doctors to govern budgets worth millions!!!

The new health reforms are trying to create competition within the health service so health providers (i.e. hospitals and clinics) can compete for this money. I must confess – this probably means I will get richer – but it also means a raw deal for the patient because for the first time your doctor will be influenced by how much money he/she can save by getting the cheapest treatment available rather than what the patient wants. It also means there is potential for a conflict of interest should the GP have shares or a vested financial interest in a particular health provider.

They are also trying to change the way junior doctors are trained by trying to abolish the Deaneries. These are the bodies that govern postgraduate medical education and doctor training.

It’s no wonder that in the last few weeks the government has ‘paused to think’ about these reforms. That the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Nursing have expressed serious concerns about the direction this government is taking with regards to the NHS.

Make no mistake, and this is from someone who works in the NHS, these changes are NOT in your interests and could seriously damage the future of our health care. They are also extremely costly and designed to help line the pockets of private companies without putting the needs of the patient first.

I would urge you to write to your local MP and express your concerns about these changes. Andrew Lansley is already feeling the pressure and I think we need to put more on him so he leaves a job he has proved he is incapable of handling.

I have no doubt the NHS needs changing – there is far too much bureaucracy and far too much focus on achieving ‘targets’ and the focus has often been diverted away from what is ultimately best for patients. But this current approach is not the correct way to go about it.

Local residents priorities - Jack Kelly will fight for them

2011-04-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Following the very successful recent leaflet delivery we had over 100 replies from the local residents on our questionnaire.

It was made clear from across the political spectrum that the residents feel the two most important priorities in the ward are

save the local police officer
the state of the roads

Jack Kelly promises if elected to serve the people of Pheasey that these will be the top priorities.

Jack pledges to fight for the people of the ward for the very best service in these two areas

If you have a comment for Jack please email him at pheaseylabour@virginmedia.com

Another Lib Dem jumps a sinking ship, he knows Labour are the true way

2011-04-11T12:05:00.000-07:00

'The Mushroom' blogs here and is a very influential blogger from the left who clearly has very good contacts.

On the 'Restirred forum' he has blogged this

Dr Murli Sinha, ex- Lib Dem parliament candidate and GP, has joined Walsall Labour Party in protest at the government's plans for NHS, tutition fees and attacks on benefits for those on low incomes

He finished a respectable third in Walsall South but looking at the above leaflet you can see why he had to defect from the LD's and is very welcome to join the Labour Party.

One of many LD supporters and voters to do so

Jack Kelly is the only choice to beat the Tories

2011-04-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Yes I have been cheeky and 'borrowed' the title from one of our opponents but in the case of Pheasey Park Farm and Orchard Hills it is the truth.

For our opponents in the ward they offer no realistic choice for the voters of Pheasey against the Tory cuts that are being imposed on the residents of our ward.

The Liberal Democrats we know agree with the cuts programme. They have signed in to it totally and are as much to blame for the cuts imposed on Walsall as the Tories.

UKIP are a one issue party over Europe and offer ideas like the right to call referenda on any local issue which will cost money for these pointless exercises.

The English Democrats are new to this election and offer no answers to the problems we face under the Tories.

If people want to make a real change to elect a councillor who will have influence and will ensure where we have to cut (and we will thanks to the Tory led government).

A councillor who with the rest of his colleagues will ensure any cut is not placed on the least fortunate.

A councillor who will ensure local services like the library are retained with paid staff

Then there is only one choice for you to vote on May 5th to oppose the Tory led cuts.

VOTE JACK KELLY - LABOUR

Jack Kelly, the next LABOUR Councillor for Pheasey

2011-04-04T14:45:00.000-07:00

I have lived in our area all my life and went to Barr Beacon like many local residents and their children. I love this area and want to do everything I can for local people.

I worked in the hospital that treats us when we are sick, I drive on the pothole ridden roads everyday and I spend my Sunday morning teaching local children sport - I know what changes need to be made in our area and I will work with local residents to make them.

My priorities will be to RETURN our roads to a driveable state, CRACK DOWN on litter and graffiti, PROTECT ALL of our local green spaces and to work with police to make sure they have the TOUGH powers they need to tackle anti social behaviour.

Local Elections MATTER - Use your vote on May 5th

2011-04-01T13:58:00.000-07:00

For too many people the local elections are seen as an irrelevance for them. For many of the things councils do they are hidden and people are unaware of the vital importance they play.

On May 5th you have a voice that could change how YOUR council works and operates. Do you want a council that cuts on dogmatic terms or a council and councillor that cares what happens to those people who rely on the vital services.

Whether this is of course Education, libraries, rubbish collection, planning or social care. What those in power have control over our everyday life.

The choice is clear for May 5th, the choice is LABOUR in tough times.

Valerie uncovers the truth on the costs of NHS reform

2011-03-14T13:00:00.001-07:00

Last Week on the 8th March Sir David Nicholson the Chief exec of the NHS appeared before the treasury health select committee and faced a barrage of questions from the committee. OUR MP - Valerie Vaz is totally against these plans and gave him a grilling over the projected costs of the reforms.

LINK

In these times of cost cutting in all areas Nicholson when under questioning from Valerie admitted the cost of reform would be a massive £5.1 BILLION

Q277 Valerie Vaz: How is the Secretary of State accountable to Parliament for the money that is being spent?

Sir David Nicholson: Obviously, he is accountable for the money, as I am, but what we are doing is setting a runningcost envelope and that running cost includes the running of the current service and the development of the consortia.

Q278 Valerie Vaz: How much is that?

Sir David Nicholson: That is £5.1 billion for the system as a whole, and it goes down, at the end of the period, to £3.4 billion.

No wonder when questioned Lansley nor Cameron will admit to this figure with a figure as low as £1bn being said and all this is at the expense of patient care.

then further on in the debate Valerie brought out the point that US healthcare provider McKinsey have had discussions that GP consortia could be floated on the stock exchange.

Q318 Valerie Vaz: Obviously, patient satisfaction levels have been extremely high before this process started, so we would like you to take that into account, but I want to clarify something, Sir David. It was something that was in the paper, that you had had discussions with someone from McKinsey who is running a company and wants to float GP surgeries on the stock market. Is that where you see-

Sir David Nicholson: That I have had discussions with them?

Q319 Valerie Vaz: Yes. Apparently he ran the plans before you. Is that not right? Are you not having discussions with anyone?

Sir David Nicholson: I am having no discussions with anyone in relation to that. I can genuinely say "It wasn’t me, guv."

Notice the lack of any denial that such plans do exist and could happen which the only conclusion is that this is about the privatisation of the NHS, something all progressives from whichever party would hate.

Look at who has donated to the Tories ...

The commission register then records Dominic Casserley, her husband and a partner at McKinsey & Co, giving the same sum to Mr Mitchell 13 days later.

Mr Mitchell is of course now a cabinet minister

LINK

Today we have seen the Tories try and backtrack on Lansley's comments that changes would be made to the bill and looking at this select committee heating it is truly frightening to see what the Tories are doing.

IT HAS TO BE STOPPED

We are watching BOVIS HOMES

2011-03-10T14:53:00.000-08:00

The story over the Bovis homes estate in St Margaret's has had a long and sorry history that is well known on Pheasey. It is a story of lack of inaction by local councils and appeals to John Prescott where he ruled the estate could be built.

We can not win old battles that is half a decade in the past but we can watch out for the future and what they may or may not plan on the site. All the local parties are on the watch for further developments that may or may not come.

The Pheasey Labour Party is watching every step that may happen and we should take a warning note from the news that has broke today. Bovis have a similar development on a site in Stafford where they axed 30 trees against the rules and some may have been listed.

The full story is HERE

This kind of behaviour is what many residents of Park Farm fear as clearly the work on the site is not only taking time but there are suspicions of the future motives of the land owners on this vastly important and need we say it valuable land.

We are watching you BOVIS and we support all efforts to protect every inch of this important green belt land.

Unaccountable GP Consortia

2011-03-03T12:49:00.000-08:00

You may be aware that the proposed NHS reform bill is still yet to be passed and yet the trial consortia for GP commissioning are being rolled out as we speak with no local accountability at all.

For example do you know what the Collingwood surgery has done, I don't so I contacted the NHS and this was their reply

Dear Ian,

Thank you for your comment on the Pathfinder Learning Network.

We don't hold information about which practices belong to each consortium, as the Department doesn't require this information to support the development of the pathfinder consortia. This information is held by the Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs).

We are unable to provide contact details for consortia on the site as we have agreed not to share this publicly and it would be in breach of data protection policies. As the consortia develop, this is something that will be available through their websites.

Kind regards,

Jennie

Jennie Fergusson
Integrated Communications Officer
NHS Communications

In effect there is nothing to hold these to account for the £80billion of tax payers money that they use to any willing bidder, in other words, privatisation. I will be contacting the SHA to see if they can provide any accountability because the consortia's decisions will affect us all.

For example there is nothing stopping them sending Pheasey patients to the other side Walsall instead of say the Manor or Sandwell. they could also send people to Little Aston hospital with no public transport at all for those without cars.

Who do you complain to ?

Walsall Budget Cuts passed but Tories should take no credit

2011-02-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

Tory councillor Mike Flower posted on his Twitter feed that the budget has inevitably passed.

Budget approved by Council. 33 in favour, 16 against. Council tax frozen. #walsall

I would ask looking at these figures which councillors abstained and why, the budget debate is not one you can abstain over. That includes any Labour councillors thought it may be some illness's may be the reason.

However for Mike and the Tories in general to try and take credit for the council tax freeze is pure political opportunism. We all know central government froze the tax as a political gesture as it would have been awful to see cuts and at the same then see council tax rises.

The Tory led central government can take any credit if it is due not the local party who has barely said anything about the budget.

This leads me to my final point, unlike other councils it is not clear where the cuts will actually fall. As I posted a couple of days it is not clear whatsoever where the axe will fall, in the public documents you can see the monetary value of the cuts and some job losses but not the services. This is obviously to try and fool the voters in May in thinking the cuts are less horrific than what they would have been and the consequences of them will be too late to be seen.

I will give you one example the North Broadway Centre, it is a fantastic joint facility between the council and NHS for those struggling with mental illness. This facility is at the less glamorous end of the care spectrum, something most voters would not recognise as being needed except those who benefit from it, so how do the cuts affect it ?

The 60 year mistake is about to scrapped, support labour to protect the NHS

2011-02-22T14:35:00.001-08:00

If there is one thing that marks out the Labour Party and a policy that means no one is left out it is of course the NHS. We now have in charge a bunch of right wing tea party Tories determined to bring it down, remember Daniel Hannon ?

'60 year Mistake'

Well on Labour List HERE Richard Blogger wrote this fantastic piece on the effect the tory changes will have on the NHS and we should all listen and very carefully. Once it is gone that it is the private sector looking for profits will be making sure they cherry pick the cases, have complicated awkward problems like Mental health, forget it !

Be very afraid

==========================

These new announcements are truly dangerous. There are several issues that Cameron did not mention but will become apparent when the white paper is published

- Granular It is not just a case of your GP sending you to a private hospital rather than an NHS hospital. The proposal is that a private company can "contest" the right for a hospital to provide a service, and Competition Law will be used to allow them to provide it. So a private company can look at your local hospital, see that there are lots of people having cataract operations and say "we want to do that". Then they will be allowed to take over that service in that hospital. That's right, the private company will be able to use the hospital's theatres. The private company will use an NHS facility and make a profit from it for their shareholders.

An MRI machine costs over a million pounds. NHS hospitals have to scrimp and save to get one (I know, my local hospital has just bought one). Yet a private company will be able to use Competition Law to get access to it. Shameful.

- Fixed proportion The October Spending Review said that the Public Services white paper will specify fixed proportions. It will say that a mandatory proportion of public services must be provided by the private sector. Thus whatever happens there will be some services at your local hospital that will be privatised, regardless of how good that hospital is.

- Accountability All public bodies are subject to Freedom of Information requests. NHS Trusts and PCTs must hold their board meetings in public (to their shame, Labour omitted this requirement about Foundation Trusts, but they are subject to FoI). Private companies are not subject to FoI and their boards are held in secret. Social enterprises (Community Interest Companies) are not subject to FoI and their boards are held in secret. For that matter, GP consortia board meetings are not subject to FoI and their boards are held in secret. Can you see a pattern here?

- Expensive Cameron says that these changes will save money. They won't. Let me use the NHS as an example. Even with the infernal internal market administration in the NHS is still low - about 10%. Yet in private hospitals it is double that. So moving to a system when more treatment will be in the private sector with a decreasing budget means that fewer people can be treated (ie long waiting lists) or quality goes down. Lansley has admitted that there will be a 14% differential between NHS and private sector, with private hospitals getting more (the likelihood is that the NHS will be paid the same as the private sector to create the illusion of a "level playing field" and then Lansley will take 12% off the money given to NHS hospitals). The private sector is already saying that healthcare in this country is "unsustainable" without co-pay, so expect soon to have to pay in cash for part of your nominally NHS treatment.

It was obvious before the election that all of this stuff was what Cameron and Lansley were planning: you just had to pay attention. Look at my blog from 6 January 2010. (Or read the summary here) Sadly Labour were not paying attention.

Walsall Council Cuts now ONLINE

2011-02-18T15:49:00.000-08:00

On Thursday the council will announce the full range of the cuts that the central Tory led government are forcing on us, not that you hear any condemnation from Mike Bird and his fellow Tories of course !

If you want to see the range of cuts they have been published HERE as part of the documents for the council meeting.

Of course it is a very dry document and a lot of words like renegotiation and rationalisation spring up so you would think the Council have some idea can be completed as to the plan.

The biggest savings are

£2.5m - Negotiate reduction in cost of education services contract with Serco

£3m - Realignment of the assessment and care management service and redesign of provider
services to promote independence amongst service users and ensure stronger partnership
working between these two areas to reduce duplication of support roles/work

£3m - Review of charging areas across the directorate (social care),introduction of a benefits based charging system, and review / maximisation / introduction of other
charging areas to bring Walsall in to line with other authorities both nationally and within the West Midlands

These three represent around half of the potential savings and Social Care is taking a third of all the cuts. From these words it is not clear exactly how it will affect people, they are of course not in easy language for a normal person to read. However it is clear that there will be a large impact on people requiring these services but as yet undefined.

So we will have to take a watching brief on them.

The Conservatives respond to our open letter

2011-02-18T14:33:00.000-08:00

It was very interesting to come home today from work and see the second Conservative leaflet in just a month after having so few recently. You have to ask if it was rushed out after our open letter was published on the YAMYAM (sadly to go) and today in the Walsall Advertiser and Great Barr Observer.

The main headline was their attempt to pacify the residents of Pheasey over the Libraries future but it does not address the issue of how secure the library is if their plans do not work and how sustainable it could be.

So we have to ask if there is a hidden agenda over the future as much is clouded in doubt.

For too long the residents of Pheasey have been left out on the margins, in our campaign leading up to the local election we intend to show the residents of Pheasey that there is an alternative future.

Open Letter to Mike Bird

2011-02-14T13:29:00.000-08:00

Mike Bird had a letter published in the Great Barr Observer for the edition on the 11th Feb and it can be found

HERE

In an open letter to Mike this is our reply on behalf of the Pheasey Labour Party and residents who have approached us.

Dear Mike,

It is good to hear from you on the issue of the library situation within Walsall yet at no point do you directly address the fear on Pheasey about the future of our library. The review you propose does not address the funding gap that is clear to see in the Walsall budget documentation. It is clear that no Library is safe under a set of conditions you have set that some libraries will find impossible to meet.

Lets look at one example, you said

"some libraries may not continue to operate in their existing buildings"

"Over the coming months, consultation will take place with community groups and other organisations to assess their views on the possible co-location of services"

This is obvious as the rent takes up a lot of the running costs and is this currently payable to the Collingwood Centre ? If so is this an option to look to move away from and if so where to on the estate, there is only one other option I can think of, the Community Centre.

Is that really a viable issue for the future of the Library ?

The other issue is the future of any staff. Librarians are trained for the job, are trained for their knowledge and their ability to help. We all remember going into the library as children and been shown the best book for us and exploring what was there. To replace these skilled staff with volunteers is simply not a feasible proposition the lack of knowledge that would be lost would damage the service. To suggest that a library can work like a self service check-in at a local supermarket misses the point of what they are.

No one in the Labour Party on Pheasey are 'Deficit Deniers' but we all believe there is a slower and steadier way that would not compromise the fabric of the community we all live in. If people do not step forward and if people do not have the time to volunteer what happens then.

Better ask Lord Wei

Regards,

Pheasey Park Farm Labour

Tories save libraries for one year to make themselves look popular and well done to the campaigners

2011-02-10T17:00:00.001-08:00

The Express and Star have just reported that the Tories have 'SAVED' the 6 libraries marked for closure for ONE year.

LINK

First lets say well done to all the local campaigners in Walsall who stood together and fought these savage cuts, we have only put off the decision for another day.

In the report our local councillor said

Councillor Chris Towe, Walsall’s finance boss, said: “It is again disappointing to hear the Labour Party trying to make political capital over this budget, a budget they appear not to understand.
“There is no plan in this budget to close libraries, in fact we are investing more than £232,000 in libraries.
“No libraries will close in the financial year 2011/12. After that, it is a moveable feast.”

Whilst it is totally true that at no point in any of the Cabinet and scrutiny reports that the actual words 'Libraries to close' were used, shall we look at what your fellow Councillor Garry Perry said about his local library in Pelsall

Coun Perry said its future was “secure”.

LINK

If they were never earmarked for closure as you claim Chris then how come Garry had to use this word and not a single word from Councillor Harris about the rest of us ?

The answer is clear, they have put off the decision because of a political imperative and vote saving. They have given the libraries one more year knowing when the budget is discussed for 2012 then they will still be in power, such is the electoral maths.

Seeing how unpopular closing libraries were they have simply put off their ultimate decision and this is all about a political call not a financial call, after all still have to save £600,000 !!!

Valerie's question catches out Cameron and he 'misrepresents the truth'

2011-02-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

Valerie Vaz is of course our local MP and making an impact at Westminster with some very good questioning. Today she got a question in at PMQ's

The provisions of the Health and Social Care Bill were not costed before or after the election. Given the extension of commercial providers, is it the case that the NHS is not safe in the hands of the Government, but that the hands are in the safe of the NHS?

This got the reply from Cameron as below and the key is that he misrepresented John Healey's comments in a speech a couple of weeks ago - LINK

On the NHS, I can do no better than quote the shadow Secretary of State for Health. This is what he said about our plans:
“No-one in the House of Commons knows more about the NHS than Andrew Lansley… Andrew Lansley spent six years in Opposition as shadow health secretary. No-one has visited more of the NHS. No-one has talked to more people who work in the NHS than Andrew Lansley… these plans are consistent, coherent and comprehensive. I would expect nothing less from Andrew Lansley.”

That was said by Labour’s shadow Health Secretary. I could not have put it better myself.

Healey did say this but the next block of his speech said this

Andrew Lansley is a Conservative. Like Oliver Letwin, George Osborne and David Cameron – who’ve all now given him backing – he believes in the free market. David Cameron said twice at Prime Minister’s Questions yesterday that the Government wanted a “level playing field” for private health providers.
They believe that competition drives innovation, that price competition brings better value, that profit motivates performance, and that the private sector is better than the public sector.
I acknowledge the ambition but I condemn this as the core philosophy being forced into the heart of the NHS.

It’s wrong for patients. It’s wrong for our NHS. It’s wrong for Britain.

I therefore have to question how Cameron in any kind of truth can stand these comments up and he should acknowledge what he meant and said of Healey's comments was a total spin of the true meaning, is this the best he can do as PM, ?

It is DESPICABLE in fact so much so that Healey has asked for an apology

Well done Valerie, your question has shown Cameron totally up and has caused a political storm.

The cuts soon to bite and HARD

2011-02-03T13:27:00.000-08:00

Walsall cabinet have agreed the budget cuts which will soon be put before the full council when the public will be allowed to see the impact of dogma over the sensible direction.

A total saving of £24.5m will have to be made as imposed by the Tory led government and this can only lead ot pain for the residents of Walsall where the youngest and weakest will be hit the hardest.

Walsall Council LINK

I would imagine quite soon that leaks will come out what is actually earmarked to be cut as some councillors start celebrating over what they have saved over other residents of Walsall.

But you have to admire the cheek of local councillor Chris Towe when he said

We have taken advantage of the opportunity to freeze council tax in the most difficult economic circumstances.

Of course this is funded totally from central tax reserves to 'save the pain' and defer it for one year instead of being honest and having to put it up to save some services.

The voters of Pheasey Park Farm have the chance in May to vote on these proposals against the council leader and obviously I encourage as many as possible to vote LABOUR

Expose Walsall Tories for what they are

2011-01-27T13:01:00.000-08:00

A campaign against the Library cuts is gathering momentum across the whole of Walsall. On my politically neutral Pheasey Blog I have listed the various ways that you can take part and will add to these as more appear. On this blog we can discuss the political impact of this and the motivations behind this.

Charlotte Stringer from Moreland Avenue has performed a fantastic job in raising the profile of the future of OUR library and Adrian Andrew has replied back to an email she had sent him.

LINK

It is clear in this letter (claiming he and Chris Towe helped save the library is not possible to prove) that the threat to our Library is a clear and present danger. He claims visits have dropped but of course this is not helped by the fact the place is barely open nor publicised around the estate. The whole Tory plan across the country is if people want services to be retained then somehow in our busy lives we have to volunteer for it, impossible for most of us who work.

To claim the whole problem is caused by government cuts bypasses the fact it is HIS party forcing these cuts on Walsall council at a far greater and quicker depth than any shire council faces that is the issue. There is simply NO NEED for cuts this deep and quick and if you want anyone to blame for the cuts then look no further at the reckless actions of the current Tory led government.

Mike loves a bit of red

2011-01-19T15:56:00.000-08:00

I have to give Brownhills Bob and Bob Piper the credit for this piece but well worth it !

In these times our elected politicians and especially Tories have to be seen doing the right things. At a time when in 3/4 weeks time we will see massive cuts to local services not affecting only Pheasey but the whole Borough then pictures like this of Mike Bird our local councillor can not be good.

Conservative Home

This was a Downing Street reception for Tory leaders to be soothed over the forthcoming cuts and welcome the new localism bill. You have to ask how much local and government tax money was spent on this and in these times did they really have to splash this kind of reception on one of the main conservative websites ?

I hope when Mike is canvassing at election time he knocks on doors and explains why this needed and everyone so happy and well watered ?

Nice Red Mike ?

Jack Kelly, Labour Candidate for Pheasey

2011-01-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

First, hope you all had a good Xmas and New Year !

Last night Pheasey Labour selected our candidate for the Local elections in May.

I am delighted to announce that Jack Kelly has been selected to stand for Walsall Council against current Tory leader Mike Bird.

Jack is a local lad, educated at Barr Beacon and understands all the concerns and issues around Pheasey Park Farm and did very well standing for election in May 2010.

We look forward to a very positive and productive campaign with Jack.

Walsall suffers and the Shires get off

2010-12-13T13:56:00.000-08:00

Today Walsall Council found out the grim news from Eric Pickles and it is not good news at all.

the bare facts are these

2010-11 - £295.9m

2011-12 - £276.5m - decline of 6.58%

2011-13 - £262.9m - decline of 3.55%

LINK - Loads Excel file from Local Communities government website

These figures are better than the settlement Birmingham has got and in line with Sandwell and Wolverhampton but when compared to the shire counties it is a total disgrace. So for example true blue Buckinghamshire for 2011-12 sees a reduction of just 0.6%, can you believe it !!

This graph shows for Metropolitan areas the correlation between deprivation and the amount of cuts

(from Left Forward Blog)

so the highest areas of deprivation like Knowsley, Liverpool and Manchester get the cuts and Walsall just below this figure. Leafy Solihull gets cuts at the very lowest end.

(the cuts are made to look slightly better because councils get some money from the NHS, core cuts are worse than these figures)

Mike Bird should ask his Tory friends where solid True Blue areas gets off and he runs a model Tory council, privatising whatever he can and he gets hammered like that !

Maybe questions the residents of Pheasey Park Farm may get the chance to ask of him if he shows his face before May 2011.

Massive win in Wednesbury North, do not despair for Pheasey

2010-11-18T16:28:00.000-08:00

Well done to Pete Hughes in Wednesbury North who has just won a stunning victory for Labour in Bioll Archer's old seat and a very safe Tory one.

Labour 1320, tories 643, lib dem 45, green 42, nf 76.

Swing Tories>LAB: 2010 – 16.4%, 2008 – 45.2%, 2007 – 30.9%

Wednesbury North is a safer Tory seat than Pheasey is and there is no reason that Labour in Walsall should not aim to capture Pheasey. In the local party we will try our very best to win it for Labour on May 5th 2011.

Labour nearly take Rushall

2010-11-11T15:41:00.000-08:00

In what would have been a fantastic result Labour nearly took Rushall in the By-election there.

Rushall Shelfield.

Rattigan (Con) 639, Worrall (Lab) 611, Vaughan (BNP) 141, Melville (UKIP) 90, Beach (OMRL) 42

swing 7.5% C to L

Well done Richard, oh so close !!

Pheasey Conservatives not happy about boundary revision, bit of a mea culpa ?

2010-11-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I posted the Electoral Reform Societies plans for the new MP boundaries when the numbers are cut. This got a very good response and remains the most read post on this blog as political people are aware of the fuss caused by people 'moving' areas. This is applicable to Pheasey more than any other area as being on the edge we could be moved to a number of different constituencies.

So last night both Mike Bird and Adrian Andrew proposed the following motion

This Council strongly object to the recently released proposals of the Electoral Reform Society (ERS) which would see Constituencies in this borough ripped apart to make up the numbers for other areas. We understand that the ERS will not be making the final decision but we call on the Boundary Commission and the Government to ensure that the Borough of Walsall is not used to make up the numbers in other areas and that the borough remains intact when the constituency boundaries are re-drawn.
A time will come for this Council to debate new boundaries but we call on officers to inform the Boundary Commission and the Government of the resolution of this Council to see our borough and the communities within it to be treated as communities and not just numbers.

Of course the irony of this is not lost on Labour people in Pheasey. A few years ago our boundaries were gerrymandered to give the Tories a very safe seat by joining Orchard Hills onto what was always a marginal ward and now they are worried. The further irony is it is their own party proposing this change with no right of appeal or feedback from those affected.

The truth is of course is when you look at the numbers there is a very good chance that Pheasey could be moved to a Birmingham area for MP's and this would lead inevitably to the ward being moved to Birmingham council and the local councillors safe seats in danger. Ideally they would want to be moved to a new Aldridge ward but the figures there simply do not add up.

Why don't they actually admit the proposals as preferred by their party are unfair and unjust ?

Will Mike and Andrew agree with Labour that a review without appeal flies in the face of their own localism policy and democracy itself ?

The Tories fail to follow Labour's principled lead over allowances

2010-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Credit to 'Themushroom' on the Restirred Forum for publishing the details of the Walsall council meeting yesterday. As Mike Bird revealed on Saturday the Tory group voted in favour of postponing the proposed rise in allowances for one year. However they rejected Labour's sensible proposal that allowances to be suspended as long as there are pay freezes amongst the council's own workers.

This is a disgrace given the pressure that is put on the workers and the councillors should prove that they are 'all in it together' and agree to the same conditions normal working class folk have had imposed. Once again the Conservative Party in Walsall have proved that they are not suitable to lead and hopefully in Rushall this week and May 2011 the voters will send this as a very strong message.

Mike Bird bows to public and Labour pressure

2010-11-06T04:12:00.000-07:00

On Adrian Goldberg's show on Radio WM Mike Bird has confirmed that last night the Tory group on Walsall Council have bowed to the obvious public pressure and delayed any decision on pay rises until next year.

He tried to make out this was due to their own thoughts and of course nothing to do with the Labour, public and blogsphere pressure. Tim Oliver, leader of the labour group was also on and laughed this off as the obvious typical Bird bluster it was.

Congratulations to all involved to ensure at least the Tory group are held to account, which has not happened for a while now and reflects the Tory concern over losing control over the gerry mandered council within two years.

IF any Tory really thinks this was not a U-Turn, I suggest you look at Mike's comments earlier this week

“If other councillors have such a problem with this, then they could always refuse their own allowances.”

that is not the statement of a leader about to defer his pay rise is it ?

New Pheasey Labour Email address

2010-11-04T17:05:00.000-07:00

We are pleased to announced a new email address for any Pheasey resident to contact the local labour party

We welcome any concerns and will campaign on behalf of the residents of Pheasey to get a better deal in what will be tough times.

pheaseylabour@virginmedia.com

Pay rises for the Walsall leaders, whilst the rest of us in austerity

2010-11-01T15:05:00.000-07:00

The Express and star tonight ran with the following story showing how it is one rule for the population another for our tory leaders in Walsall.

Whilst Mike Bird, our local councillor, may think it is fine that his allowances are equalised up to the rest of the West Midlands the timing is so insensitive it defies belief when job's are at threat for the council workers.

Bird's response of

“If other councillors have such a problem with this, then they could always refuse their own allowances.”

is not worth even replying to.

A disgrace.

Any future for Pheasey Junior's swimming pool

2010-10-20T14:36:00.000-07:00

With the spending cuts upon us there is mixed news about the swimming pools in Pheasey at Barr Beacon and Pheasey school.

The Express and Star have reported that only 6 of the 21 schools with polls will keep them with the one at Barr Beacon recommend to stay.

LINK

However for Pheasey school it is not clear at all on the status of that pool and from a Walsall statement it seems up to the school.

“But the report does make it absolutely clear that the future of individual school pools is a matter for the schools themselves to decide – their closure is not something we as a local authority can make decisions about.”

LINK

It appears an option is to close all but 6 of them, Barr Beacon which is quite modern seems to be OK. But the status of Pheasey's one is unclear, a specialist junior teaching pool, seems to rest if the school has the money for the upkeep as none forthcoming from the council it would seem.

As a pupil of Collingwood who used to go to that pool and a parent of a current pupil this would be devastating for the kids on our estate and the Pheasey labour party vows to fight this all the way.

Ed Miliband the new Labour leader

2010-09-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to our new leader Ed Miliband who was elected in a very close contest with his brother David.

We believe in Pheasey as a branch who voted to support him that Ed has the right credentials to lead the party and then the country to a fairer more just society. A society that gives everyone regardless of background and money an equal fair chance to progress.

As Ed says this is a new generation now leading Labour into hopefully a bright future.

Political debate over the future of Pheasey

2010-09-09T17:10:00.001-07:00

It is inevitable that the the government will get their way and redraw the boundaries and there will be massive changes (unless a large rebellion) that I think in Pheasey will have large political repercussions on the Estate.

So lets look at the proposals, which are to make every constituency 75,000 people or within a 5% of that. In the last local elections the rolls for the three Walsall seats were

Aldridge & Brownhills – 58,900
Walsall South – 64,700
Walsall North – 64,800

These figures are of course well down on 75,000 and means that there will have to massive redrawing of the boundaries and we are inevitably going to be moved from Walsall South. This is where the political fun and games begin.

In order to speed up the process the Government proposes to abolish local enquires and this will deemed at national level so local feelings and belonging will go to the mathematics of it.

The impact for Pheasey ?

Well it is not clear if boundaries are withdrawn whether the same areas will move councils so the Electoral Reform Society an independent body commissioned independent work by CACI (location specialists) to draw up fair boundaries and this is what they came up with (Large LINK) for Pheasey they suggest the following

It is worth noting that they think the proposal based on electoral roles is unfair so this is drawn on population size but I think the point is totally valid we will see a major shift of Pheasey and I just can not see it drawn on these figures being a Walsall constituency.

That WILL be fun and games.

Speed Camera must stay

2010-07-24T16:47:00.000-07:00

Various newspaper outlets are reporting that the government are thinking about removing 6000 speed camera's around the country (though these are decisions at a local level)

News of the World Report

I would urge our three local councillors on Pheasey with all their power NOT to allow the removal of the one on Queslett Road at the Deer's Leap Pub.

Before this camera was introduced we had deaths on this stretch of road and after the camera's and closing of the gap I believe we have had none. The camera I believe is an important cause of this important stat. as someone who has travelled this stretch of road every day to work for the past 12 years I know the impact o speed they have had.

This issue should cross party boundaries on the simple cause of health and safety.

Mike Bird and the hyprocrisy over his expenses

2010-07-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

It is worth noting that one of our local councillors is of course Mike Bird (up for re-election in 2011) and along with Chris Towe and Adrian Andrew all sit on the cabinet.

Yesterday their expenses were released in the Express and Star and from 'Hacked Off' on the Stirrer Forum

We learn this about the hyprocrisy of the Tories

"For those of us in Walsall, the Tory leader of the council, Mike Bird is a constant source of embarrassment and occasionally amusement. In last night Express and Star he managed to do both.

On a story about councillors’ allowances he defended his wage of over £29,000 saying 'I am worth twice that.'

He justified that by saying that if he was in the private sector overseeing a budget of £750 million a year he'd be getting in the region of £100,000.

What he forgot to say (Mike does have a habit of ignoring facts) is that someone is doing that job already; the chief executive Paul Shennan who gets paid £180,000 a year.

He was followed by a string of Tory cabinet members who justified their allowances saying that the payment they get doesn’t reflect the level of responsibility they have and the reason they did it was because of public duty.

One such was Barbara McCracken, cabinet member for social care and health. a retired teacher on a full pension (one of those things the Tories and Lib Dems want to get rid for public sector workers) , she said: "I have never worked so had as I do, the demands of the cabinet are absolutely enormous."

That might well be true. When deputy mayor Cllr McCracken was so hard pressed, she used her position to advertise a private housing development in another borough where she had bought a property."

This is from a leader determined to shut as much as he can with no regard to the consequences on the people of Walsall.

FRED WINS IN BLOXWICH WEST

2010-07-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Fred for winning Bloxwich West. . The tories ( and the liberals) have been soundly beaten.

Fred ( Labour) 1142 votes. Tory 800. UKIP 91 Lib Dem 71 Green 28.
Majority 342 votes

Fred will make an excellent Councillor as he proved when he did hold that place some time ago.

well done Fred from Pheasey Labour

Welcome

2010-06-29T13:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the new blog for Pheasey Park Farm Labour party.

As time goes on the blog will be updated with news regarding both the Pheasey Park Farm ward, Walsall South Labour party and the on going struggle by Walsall Tories to destroy all public services.

Please comment if you wish to take part in the debate