Voter Registration 2009/10 - Don't lose your right to vote!

On 25th August Teignbridge Council will be posting voter registration forms to all 57,000 households within the district, marking the start of this year's annual canvass of electors. Households will be required to submit details of all eligible persons who will be resident at a property on the qualifying date of 15th October 2009.

Making the Pennies Go Round 2009

As part of the budget process, Teignbridge District Council are going out to residents to consult on proposals.

Teignbridge District Council's Lib Dem/Independent administration are proposing a freeze for car park and leisure charges, and the proposed Council Tax rises have been kept to 3.9% (or £5 a year for a Band D property)

Previous consultations have shown that residents put affordable housing and employment as their top priorities, and Teignbridge will be offering the chance to influence key decision-making in these and many more important service areas.

Other plans include a £2.8million economic development scheme for new employment at Collett Way, Newton Abbot, financial assistance and the provision of council-owned land to create around 100 new affordable homes, and £2.6million growth point funding for vital housing infrastructure.

The roadshows will outline our spending plan for the coming financial year, and enable local people to express their own views regarding ongoing investment and critical action to support local communities throughout the credit crunch.

People can view the proposals at the following event, where refreshments will be served:

Newton Abbot - Main Hall, Old Forde House: 16th January 2.30pm - 4.00 pm. **A free tour of the historic Grade II listed house will follow**

Are you white, male and retired....if so, you must be a Councillor!

I jest, obviously. Well....maybe!

My mocking stems from my reading of the National Census of Local Authority Councillors 2008, which is published this week. The research was undertaken jointly by the Local Government Association (LGA) and the Improvement and Development Agency for Local Government (I&DeA).

For a young, female councillor who also works full-time, the report makes depressing reading; particularly as from the figures, the numbers of younger people and women becoming Councillors is falling, despite efforts to encourage them to stand for election.

Overall, 30.8% of Councillors are female, compared with 51.3% of the adult population. The average age of Councillors rose from 55.4 years in 1997 to 58.8 this year. This means that 86.8% of councillors are 45 and over, compared with only 51.9% of the population as a whole.

The proportion of Councillors who are retired has increased from 34.1% in 1997 to 43.5% this year. Compare this with the actual adult population, where 22.3% are retired and you can see how desperate the situation is.

This is a disgrace, especially given the efforts that have been made to try and recruit "different" people to the role of Councillor. How can we claim that a Council represents its community when it doesn't even come close?

Teignbridge District Council ran an open evening before the elections in 2007, where prospective candidates could come and talk to existing Councillors and learn more about the role. I attended the event, which was extremely useful, but it is clear that there is so much more that we can be doing.

Part of my role as the Portfolio Holder for Communuties and Regulation involves looking at ways of encouraging people to stand for election. I have made the case quite strongly to officers that we need to be doing more in the future, as we are not building the next generation of councillors to come forward.

That said, Councils can only do so much, and the political parties, of whatever hue, need to be grasping the nettle and recruiting more people and giving them the skills and confidence to stand for public office. I can only speak as a Liberal Democrat, but it seems to me that the party makes a lot of effort to recruit diverse people to stand for Parliament, but much less is done to recruit frontline Councillors.

I'd be interested to hear other people's views - what do you think the barriers are to standing for election to local Councils? What could the political parties do to encourage more people to come forward, and what should Councils like Teignbridge be doing to make sure that the Councils truly represent the communuties that they are supposed to?

Don't let them con you

Recent reports in the Herald Express confirm the need for the campaign that Consumer Direct are currently running, called Don't Let Them Con You.

Every year, millions of innocent people lose money to scams that come by post or phone, such as fake lottery and prize draw wins, bogus psychic predictions and 'miracle' health cures. Just this week, I received a call from an unknown number, which was a call to try and get my bank details.

Consumer Direct, an offsuit of the Office of Fair Trading have published some simple tips to keep yourself safe.

* Never reply straight away to an offer. Speak to a relative, friend, neighbour or your carer before you do anything.

* Never send money to anyone who says you've won the lottery or a big prize - you'll never see your promised winnings.

* Never give your bank account details or other personal information to people you don't know.

* Never ring an 090 number unless you're certain how much the call will cost and know what you are likely to receive.

* Never send money off in response to bogus psychic mailings. Identical letters predicting good or bad luck are sent to thousands of people.


It's clear that conmen are getting more sophisicated in the techniques that they are using to get money from people. If you suspect that you might be the intended victim of a scam, before sending any money, call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.

Portfolio Holder for Communities and Regulation

I am well aware that it has been a long time since I blogged, but December was an extremely busy month for me.

At the last Full Council meeting before Christmas, I was unanimously elected to the Executive of Teignbridge District Council, taking over the Communuties and Regulation Portfolio that was left vacant by the sad death of Councillor Brian Berman.

This portfolio covers a number of areas within the Council, including the legal department,emergency planning and promoting democracy throughout the District. Since my appointment was confirmed, I have spent time meeting with the officers responsible in order to learn more about the issues and ongoing cases.

I am extremely excited about this appointment, and the opportunities that it may present to make the Council more accessible to the public, and promote standing for election to a wider section of the public. Whilst this is a small part of the job, it is one that I relish, and I can't wait to get my teeth stuck in!

That BNP List

I've been pondering which of the news stories that caught my attention over the past couple of days to blog about. Lack of time due to the by-election which I am involved in means I can't cover all of them. That means I'm keeping my counsel on John Sergeant's departure from Strictly!

One of the biggest stories this week has been the publication of a "membership" list of the BNP on the internet. First things first - I have no intention on publishing where people can find the details of the BNP list, nor do I condone what the people who have published it have done.

I don't make any secret of the fact that I find the BNP abhorrent as a party, however, publishing people's details on the internet is completely irresponsible.

The BNP as an organisation works on fear, and in these difficult economic times, it is easy for them to blame minority groups for the country's problems. It has come to my attention that the party has been out canvassing in some areas in Newton Abbot recently.

What I found most shocking about the list was the number of young people who have membership with the party, and that Teignbridge has the highest concentration of members in Devon.

As a Councillor, and in particular as the Youth Champion for Teignbridge; I see my role as one of being a community champion, and I guess that this includes promoting diversity within our area so that parties like the BNP don't make any headway.

It is too easy to blame others for our problems; what we should be doing is embracing the skills that we all can bring forward to get ourselves back on track.

We Will Remember Them

I spent a wet and windy morning yesterday at the War Memorial in Newton Abbot to honour all those people who gave their lives so that we may live in peace.

Despite the rain, hundreds of people lined Queen Street to watch us as we marched by, and the number of young people there to watch or participate was incredible to see.

Our local MP, Richard Younger-Ross gave the reading, and we all marked the two minute silence during a brief gap in the showers.

Whilst we remember those who have gone before, we must also remember the living, including those soldiers who are currently serving in the Armed Forces across the world. With this in mind, I was so pleased to hear that the single released by Simon Cowell's latest prodigies has reached Number 1 in the charts. The single raises money for Help for Heroes, a charity helping those wounded in the conflicts that Britain is still involved in.

One of the projects that they fund is in conjunction with Troop Aid. Every patient who is injured while on active service and goes through the hospital in Selly Oak will now receive a Troop Aid Hero Grab Bag.

This simple idea makes a real difference to the moral and comfort of the patient. The bag contains all the ‘nice to haves’ like a t shirt, underwear, socks, washing and shaving kit, or female equivalent, as well as other items like writing paper, a telephone card and memory stick.