The Healthier Communities and Older People Overview and Scrutiny panel yesterday voted by 4 votes to 3 to uphold the call in. There was robust and meaningful discussion of the subject,  and the consultation with service users showed there was significant opposition to the proposed charges.  The Chair of Action for Pensioners, Joan Travis spoke opposing the proposd decision on charges, and asked that increases be phased in. She made the point that many of those who would be most impacted were the careful people who had saved for their old age, and now faced being financially penalised and could feel forced to cut back on the services they need. 

Those of us who voted to uphold are urging the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services and Housing to rethink his original decision. However under the Council’s call-in system, cabinet members are not obliged to fall in line with panel recommendations, but Cllr Pritchard will have to formally state his reasons for rejecting its views.

The Panel’s recommendations were that:

• The home care charges should be phased over period of time, with incremental increase, to start as soon as possible.  The Panel’s advice was that vacancy management should be used to cover the shortfall in income.

•  

  The Panel requested ongoing appraisal of the impact of the charges or the impact of the vacancy management.

This afternoon the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panel will question the Cabinet member for Adult Social Services, Cllr Vic Pritchard, on his decision to impose steep increases in  the charges to residents for home care support. I will be sitting on the panel which will make the decision to up hold the call-in, or dismiss.

The reasons for the Call-in, which has the support of both Labour and Lib Dem Councillors, are:

• Home care rates are to rise from £8.04 to £14. This represents an increase of 74% which would seem to be an unfairly steep rate of increase the impact of which should have been given more weight in the decision making.
• Evidence is given that charges are being increased in line with those of neighbouring authorities. However no evidence is given that the difference in cost of living between authority areas has been taken into account.
• In section 6.2 pf the decision paper it is stated that only an estimated 90 service users will potentially be faced by domiciliary care charge increases. However in the same section it is stated that the Council expects an extra £100,000 of income from these 90 people. This equates £1111 per person on top of the charges they are already paying. This would seem to be disproportionate and unfair.
• Similarly, the charges for community transport are to rise by 50%, with an expected additional £133 income to the Council per user, per year. Again this seems disproportionate.
• Charges for community meals are to rise by 38% or £1.05 per meal. This will have a wider impact than some of the charges mentioned above given that 67,000 meals are served per year.
• No evidence is given that an assessment has been carried out of the impact on those residents who will be affected by several or all of these price increases. Many pensioners are on fixed incomes; with costs of food and fuel also rising, these charges increases could be the last straw.
• If costs go up residents may reduce their care. There is no evidence of a risk analysis of this possibility having been carried out.

At an earlier meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel it was suggested that charges could at least be phased in, but it seems that was not considered when the decision was made by Cllr Pritchard. 

Worryingly you may have seen statements in the Press to the effect that Cllr Pritchard has said he will not take notice of the outcome of this call-in, and push ahead with his decision anyway. This does not show respect for the democratic process, and it always concerns me when people in any walk of life act as though they are unnaccountable.

My personal view is that this is a decision that hits at a vulnerable group of residents at a time in their lives when they are in need and less able to defend themselves.

The call-in is open to the public, and starts at 3pm today in the Guildhall.

Combe Down residents who use the city’s car parks between 6 and 8pm to go to the cinema, to a restaurant, to the theatre or to the Spa will now have to pay. Previously parking in the car parks was free after 6pm. This will cost an extra £2.80 for each vehicle.
The Liberal Democrats suggested that the Conservative administration reconsider this policy change because of the ‘knock-on’ effects it might have for city centre activities and the city centre evening economy.
Unfortunately the vote at the Safer and Stronger Communities Scrutiny Panel on 7th April, to send the decision back to the cabinet to be reconsidered was lost by 4 to 3. Sadly not one of the four who voted to uphold the new charges lives in Bath.

Local councillors have always been able to ask officers to send planning applications to committee, in response to residents requests or if they had concerns about an application, but that right has now been removed.
Any request has now to go through the Conservative Chair of Planning, Councillor Les Kew, who is based in High Littleton and last week he refused my request for a local application to go to committee.
With respect to Cllr Kew, he knows little about Combe Down (why should he), but he made this refusal without any reference to myself or Cherry. Officers and councillors all work to the Council’s Local Plan, but local councillors often have that extra bit of local knowledge about what is good for their communities, that officers and councillors from other areas do not have. It can make all the difference to a decision on a Planning Application.
Our view is that by removing this right of referral, democracy has suffered and this is just one more example of how power is being taken centrally back into the Guildhall, where more and more decisions are being made behind closed doors.

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00438/LBA
Parish: N/A
Registered: 30th January 2008 Expiry Date: 26th March 2008
Location: 154 North Road Combe Down Bath BA2 5DL
Grid Ref: (E)376328 - (N)162670 LB Grade: II
Proposal: Use of detached building as studio flat at first-floor and garaging at ground-floor (regularisation)
Officer: Bob Cannon
Applicant: Mr C Rogers
Agent: A N Horner Consulting
154 North Road
Combe Down
Bath
BA2 5DL

121 The Oval
Southdown
Bath
BA2 2HF

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00528/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 18th February 2008 Expiry Date: 14th April 2008
Location: Church Place Church Road Combe Down Bath BA2 5JQ
Grid Ref: (E)375813 - (N)162287 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Erection of 5 no. two storey dwellings (Retrospective)
Officer: David Audsley
Applicant: Ashlar Group
Agent: Western Building Consultants Ltd
Unit 21, Wansdyke Business Centre
Oldfield Lane
Oldfield Park
Bath
BA2 3LY
Unit 2
Wansdyke Business Centre
Oldfield Lane
Bath
BA2 3LY

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00546/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 22nd February 2008 Expiry Date: 18th April 2008
Location: 191 Bradford Road Combe Down Bath BA2 5BT
Grid Ref: (E)375551 - (N)162414 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Erection of a conservatory/kitchen extension following demolition of existing lean-to
Officer: Richard Stott
Applicant: Mrs Karen Clothier
Agent: No Agent
191 Bradford Road
Combe Down
Bath
BA2 5BT

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00545/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 27th February 2008 Expiry Date: 23rd April 2008
Location: 10 Tyning Place Combe Down Bath BA2 5HA
Grid Ref: (E)376151 - (N)162597 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Installation of a rear dormer
Officer: Alice Barnes
Applicant: Ms Deans
Agent: Allied Welsh Ltd
10 Tyning Place
Combe Down
Bath
BA2 5HA

Unit 2
Del Guerra Court
Gelligron Industrial Estate
Tonyretail
Mid Glam
CF39 8ES

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00611/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 29th February 2008 Expiry Date: 25th April 2008
Location: 11 Claverton Drive Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AJ
Grid Ref: (E)377745 - (N)163141 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Erection of a single storey rear extension
Officer: Richard Dale
Applicant: Mr Jim Kendall
Agent: Gordon Swift
11 Claverton Drive
Claverton Down
Bath
BA2 7AJ

25 Eden Park Drive
Bannerdown
Bath
BA1 7JH

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00641/CLPU
Parish: N/A
Registered: 15th February 2008 Expiry Date: 11th April 2008
Location: Longwood Cottage Claverton Down Road Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AD
Grid Ref: (E)377000 - (N)162810 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Application for a certificate of lawfulness for the proposed use of Longwood Cottage for purposes falling within use class C2 (residential institutions)
Officer: David Cox
Applicant: BMI Bath Clinic
Agent: Oakley Planning And Conservation
Claverton Down Road
Bath
BA2 7BR
16 The Street
All Cannings
Devizes
SN10 3PA

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00670/LBA
Parish: N/A
Registered: 19th February 2008 Expiry Date: 15th April 2008
Location: Ashlands Belmont Road Combe Down Bath BA2 5JR
Grid Ref: (E)376209 - (N)162294 LB Grade: II
Proposal: Change of use to join Ashlands and Ashlands Cottage to form one family dwelling
Officer: Varian Tye
Applicant: Mr Richard Antcliff
Agent: Western Building Consultants Ltd
Ashlands
Belmont Road
Combe Down
Bath
BA2 5JR

Unit 2
Wansdyke Business Centre
Oldfield Lane
Bath
BA2 3LY

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00769/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 25th February 2008 Expiry Date: 21st April 2008
Location: 5 Albert Place Combe Down Bath BA2 5EP
Grid Ref: (E)376226 - (N)162409 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Erection of two storey extension and single storey extension following demolition of existing storey extension and storage shed (Resubmission)
Officer: Tessa Hampden
Applicant: Mr & Mrs M Hobday
Agent: CJ Rudd
Claremont Lodge
119 Church Road
Combe Down
Bath
Avalon
9 Clydesdale Road
Box
Corsham
Wilts
SN13 8EN

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00802/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 6th March 2008 Expiry Date: 1st May 2008
Location: 23 Southstoke Road Combe Down Bath BA2 5SN
Grid Ref: (E)374775 - (N)161985 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Erection of a single storey rear extension to replace existing conservatory and installation of a rear dormer
Officer: Alice Barnes
Applicant: Mr Richard Grattidge
Agent: Western Building Consultants Ltd
23 Southstoke Road
Combe Down
Bath
BA2 5SN

Unit 2
Wansdyke Business Centre
Oldfield Lane
Bath
BA2 3LY

Ward: Combe Down App Ref: 08/00863/FUL
Parish: N/A
Registered: 4th March 2008 Expiry Date: 29th April 2008
Location: 1 Flatwoods Crescent Claverton Down Bath BA2 7AH
Grid Ref: (E)377773 - (N)163038 LB Grade: N/A
Proposal: Erection of single storey rear extension following demolition of existing single storey rear extension
Officer: Rebecca Roberts
Applicant: Ms Sonja Francis
Agent: Martin Blake Associates
1 Flatwoods Crescent
Claverton Down
Bath
BA2 7AH

28 Bellotts Road
Bath
BA1 4BE

On Wednesday 26th March, I was delighted to be invited to talk about my role as a local Councillor to the Mothers Union at Holy Trinity Church, Combe Down. There were between twenty and thirty women who attended, and I did my best to cover aspects of the role of a Councillor, what we do, the kind of diverse issues we are involved in, locally and BANES wide, the Committees I sit on, whether we are paid, how The Council Administration works, and other Bath and NE Somerset wide involvements. I explained that both Roger and I are also Charter Trustees of The City, supporting The office of the Mayor, because Combe Down is one of  a number of Wards within the Bath City boundary.

There were a good number of questions, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting this Group, and hearing about the many projects they support both here and worldwide.

It strikes me that the role of the local Councillor, and what they do, might not be that well known to everybody, certainly I did not know a great deal before embarking on the process a couple of years ago, and If you would like us to come and speak to your Combe Down Group or Society, do get in touch, by email, telephone, or leave a comment on this site.

We have started a Community Enews letter, please get in touch and let us know your email if you would like to be on the mailing list.

We have just sent out our community news letter to local residents whose email addresses we have. As well as local and city wide news there is list of upcoming meeting dates for organisations on Combe Down. If you wish us to advertise your meeting or be added to the elist for eNews, just email us or use the ‘report a problem’ facility on this web site.
The response to eNews and our reporting of progress on the mines and on other local issues has been very positive. We intend to continue with an eNews on a monthly basis. Thank you to all those who have responded.