GCSE results and funding cuts should mean re-think on Hastings Academies

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful for Hastings & Rye, has called on the Conservative County Council to think again on Academies for Hastings.

Nick has questioned Cllr Keith Glazier, the Cabinet member for Children’s Services, about whether the recent news in the national press regarding the financial situation of British Telecom – the private sector sponsor for the planned Academies – and the Secretary of State’s focus on chains of schools as the best way to improve the results of failing schools, means that the Council should develop an alternative to the Academies plan.

On Saturday (29 August) the national press reported that the Government will slash funding on Academies.

In response, Nick said,

“First of all, I want to pay tribute to the fantastic partnership between Ninestiles, staff, parents and students that has brought about the huge improvements in GCSE results that we have seen in the last week.

“I also want to congratulate the County Council in the role that it has played in breaking the pattern of disappointing results over recent years (for which it must take responsibility as well).

“These results only go to strengthen the argument that dramatic improvements in secondary education in Hastings are possible without the changes of governance that Academies would bring.

“With the news that BT is struggling, and that the Government is reducing the funding available for Academies, along with these fantastic GCSE results, isn’t it time for the County Council to bring forward an alternative plan for local people to consider alongside the plan for Academies? The reduced possibility of participation for local people in the Academies governance structure is very concerning. The accountability of our schools to local parents and children is vital.”

Photograph of Nick with Cllr Kathryn Field, Deputy Leader of the Liberal Democrats on East Sussex County Council, at a public meeting on Academies last October

Nick urges residents to take part in Hospital Parking Charter consultation

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful for Hastings & Rye, has called on local people to take part in the consultation organised by the British Parking Association to develop a Hospital Parking Charter.

The BPA, which is based in Haywards Heath, requires submissions before 18 September 2009.

Speaking after submitting his consultation return, Nick said,

“Whilst I will continue to argue that the NHS should be free at the point of delivery, I do think that it is vital that local people take the time to make their submission to the British Parking Association, in order to keep up the pressure for a fairer deal on hospital parking charges.

“I hope that the people of Hastings & Rye will use their experience of parking at the Conquest to make their submission before 18 September 2009.

“I have asked Dave Smith of the BPA to keep us regularly updated in respect of the planned Charter.

“In a constituency like ours, where health inequalities abound, this is a crucial issue to get right.”

For more information on how to send in your views contact Dave Smith at the British Parking Association on: dave.s@britishparking.co.uk or call 01444 447 316

Academies warning from Lib Dems, as BT scraps graduate recruitment scheme

Nick Perry, the Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner for Hastings & Rye, has issued a stark warning following reports in the Business Section of Monday\’s Guardian that BT has become ‘one of the first big name companies to scrap its graduate recruitment scheme’.

Journalists David Teather and Kathryn Hopkins said that, ‘BT blamed the economy on the decision to axe the scheme and said there was no certainty when it might start recruiting again. BT is Britain’s ninth-largest employer and has 147,000 workers.’

British Telecom has been enlisted as a private sector sponsor for two Academies planned for Hastings. The plan is the latest attempt by the Conservative County Council to succeed in improving secondary school results in the town.

Responding to the news, Nick said,

“That BT has been hit hard by the recession makes it even more important that there is a fully thought-out alternative to the County Council’s Academies plan. We Lib Dems have been the only ones advocating an alternative plan as a matter of principle, because we don’t agree with some of the ways that Academies are delivered. Now it seems that the hard economic facts back up our case too.

“I am not an economist, but to my mind, if BT is reporting a 45% drop in pre-tax profits and has slashed its dividend, then it will not have the capacity to finance philanthropic works. If it does not have the cash to fund its own graduate recruitment scheme, how on earth could it have the resources to play a leading role in new secondary schools in Hastings?

“Local people have a right to know what the score is, and the County Council must be frank about the current position. Liberal Democrats will work to get the answers to these important questions.”

Photo: Nick with Cllr Kathryn Field, Deputy Leader of the Lib Dems on East Sussex County Council, at a public meeting on Academies last year

Nick backs Rother District Council on voter registration push

Dear Editor,

Credit where credit’s due…

Derek Stevens and the Elections Office at Rother District Council should be congratulated for raising the subject of electoral registration in the Observer last week.

I know that the behaviour of many MPs – particularly over their expenses claims – has resulted in large sections of the electorate becoming further alienated from the political process.

But it is crucial, in my view, that people register to vote and have their say on this and other issues.

There are people across the country putting themselves forward to stand as candidates for Parliament that share the horror of what has happened in the Westminster village, and who seek to represent the places where they live and work in a more honest, open, and transparent way.

Such people need their fellow citizens to register for a vote, and to use it.

Particularly if the forthcoming General Election takes place alongside a referendum on electoral reform.

On Saturday night, I started Robert Tressell’s novel, ‘The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists’. Early in the book, the protagonist Frank Owen, exhorts his painter and decorator workmates to learn about policy and to use their votes wisely. He even chides them saying that, ‘since you never take the trouble to find our which side is right or wrong you have no right to express an opinion. You are not fit to vote. You should not be allowed to vote.’

My plea to Hastings & Rye residents is to grill us, your parliamentary candidates, over the next weeks and months.

Write, email, phone. Take us to task on the doorstep.

Find out what we believe in and what we stand for.

And then vote on it.

This could be one of the most important and interesting General Elections for a very long time!

Yours truly,

‘Welcome!’ – to Westfield, Brede, Broad Oak and Udimore

We have been out with the hit squad this weekend, delivering a ‘Thank You!’ Focus for Derek Greenup - our candidate for the recent County Council election in Brede Valley & Marsham wards.

This was also an opportunity for me to give another big welcome to all those residents of Brede Valley ward, who will become Hastings & Rye constituents at the next General Election.

As I said on the leaflet -

“I hope that those of you who are becoming part of the Hastings & Rye constituency at the next General Election have a long and happy association with us! Your area’s specific needs will be a focus for me.”

Rye gives thumbs up to ‘Any Questions?’

Rye residents gave Radio 4’s ‘Any Questions?’ programme a thunderous round of applause as the show finished just before nine o’clock on Friday night at Rye College.

Locals had been treated to an entertaining debate with a wide range of questions: from the first, about the American Right and the NHS, to John Izod’s final question about women’s boxing and the London Olympics.

Bob Crow (supremo of the RMT Union) and Toby Young (journalist and author) locked horns over the Conservative Party’s intentions regarding a privatised NHS. Oliver Walston (a Cambridgeshire farmer and one-time political advisor to Labour Cabinet Minister George Brown) and Dr Sarah Churchwell (an American Studies academic from the University of East Anglia) argued about the ethics of women wrestling in mud, or olive oil, at future Olympic Games’.

Rye Town Councillor Mary Smith got her question in. She asked ‘How much is an MP worth?’, following the much-criticised comments by Conservative Party bigwig Alan Duncan MP, earlier in the week.

Nick Perry, Liberal Democrat parliamentary campaigner for Hastings and Rye, joined the fun, but didn’t get to ask a question.

Speaking afterwards he said, “What a terrific evening. Rye gave the panel some brilliant questions. It’s great that the programme came to the town, and fantastic that it was a free event.

“The most heartening part of the evening for me was the warm up…

“Editor Alice Feinstein got us in the mood… She asked us to do a bit of practice cheering and heckling. She asked us what our reaction would be if a General Election was called and Lord Mandelson was a candidate for Prime Minister. The audience gave a rousing pantomime ‘Boo!’

“And then she asked what we’d do if David Cameron resigned tomorrow, and there was a great big cheer!

“It made me extremely proud of Rye townsfolk!” said Nick.

Come and spend your birthday in Hastings & Rye!

It was my birthday over the weekend.

For some macabre reason, and from being a very small child, it has stuck with me that Jesus was said to have died aged 33.

It’s not an age that I can say that I have been looking forward to particularly, but it’s here now, so best make the most of it!

And make the most of it we did…

Before launching in to the birthday surprise that had been booked, we wandered down from the West Hill to Hastings Old Town to see the preparations for the Old Town Carnival, and to see the George Street bunting fluttering over wave after wave of happy holidaymakers and locals soaking up the atmosphere.

Then the obligatory return journey up the West Hill Lift with any of our family and friends who have not yet had the pleasure…

And then for the birthday surprise: a night away.

It was the first night my partner and I have been away from our daughter (who will be two in November) since she was born.

We are now looking in to how we formally recommend the sister-in-law for beatification following her agreement to babysit!

We scooted off to one of Rye’s finest guest houses; had a drink in the last rays of the evening sunshine, and then went to eat a lovely dinner – again at one of the many fine eateries that Rye has to offer.

On Sunday morning, we shot past the Rye Maritime Festival, picked up a couple of dressed Rye Bay crabs, and took them with a hunk of Hastings Old Town bread, a couple of tomatoes and a lemon, for a picnic up at Fairlight.

We ate; sunned ourselves; reclined in the wonderful cool breeze, drinking in the view; and took turns to steer the daughter out of the way of hurtling canines and boisterous older boys.

It was a weekend that made me feel extremely fortunate.

Not only because we, as a family, have enough disposable income to be able to treat ourselves every now and again; but also because the things we were treating ourselves to were so close to home.

After the weekend, I am finding it a bit hard to contain my enthusiasm for our area. And I thoroughly recommend anyone to spend their birthday in Hastings & Rye.

For any readers who haven’t yet sampled the delights of this wonderful part of the country, please come and see for yourselves.

“Labour’s time is up, and the Conservatives simply think it’s their turn…”

Nick Clegg finalised his General Election team today with the message that Labour’s time is up, and the Conservatives think it’s their turn to run the country.

The message could not be more pertinent here in Hastings & Rye where the Labour MP is on his way out and we have a Conservative candidate who is affable to a fault, but will not give straight answers to straight questions on policy or Conservative values.

I was interviewed on Arrow FM earlier in the week about this very subject and my message to the people of Hastings & Rye is to take us, your General Election candidates, to task over the next weeks and months before Polling Day.  Grill us.  Find out what we think and what we stand for, and cast your votes on that basis.

Nick Clegg says that Britain needs a fresh start.

We could certainly use one in Hastings & Rye.

Sharon Bowles MEP ramps up the pressure at EU for fishermen

Sharon Bowles, Liberal Democrat MEP for the South East of England, has criticized EU Commissioner Neelie Kroes on behalf of local fishermen in Hastings & Rye.

Earlier this year Ms Bowles asked the Competition Commissioner to investigate the fairness of the quota system in respect of producer organisations, and whether the UK Government was acting illegally in respect of the under-10 metre sector.

Re-elected in June as an MEP, and having landed one of the top scrutiny jobs at the EU – Chair of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee – Ms Bowles is ramping up the pressure in order to get the case of the Hastings & Rye fishermen looked at properly.

Writing to Ms Kroes on 31 July, Sharon says -

‘I do not feel that you have sufficiently grappled with my complaint that the package of measures, taken as a whole, against the small boats, amounts to a cartel.

‘I regret that you have refused to deal with the issues that are within EU competence (ie, anti-competitive activity). Your implicit justification has been that the situation, as set up by the UK under its competency, demands that large boats and producer organisations engage in anti-competitive activity.

‘This situation is due to unfair distribution of quota by the UK government to boats that are incapable of themselves fishing in that area…

‘I was also disappointed that your letter did not at all address the matter of the UK government prohibiting small boats from having their own producer organisations, and therefore representation on committees.‘

Nick Perry, Lib Dem parliamentary hopeful for Hastings & Rye said,

“I know that Sharon is doing everything in her power to get the EU to come off the fence on this issue, condemn the practices of the UK Government in respect of our under-10 metre sector, and force a change to the UK’s policy. We can only get a response which is of use to our fishermen if we continue to fight for reform and justice within this system.”

Letter to the Editor – Hastings Borough Council has gone quiet on refuse solutions

Dear Editor,

I thought your letter from Karen Lushey last week was a breath of fresh air!

It really captured the difficulties that our feathered friends can cause us.

Up on Manor Road (as I am sure many other residents in other roads across the town will confirm) the seagulls continue to make a mess of the rubbish.

I read in your paper that Conservative Cabinet member Cllr Tucker requests that we keep our rubbish inside until collection morning.

Fair enough.

But what about Hastings Borough Council providing some ordinary bins for those houses that don’t have them, and then do some monitoring of their use?

I was against the communal bin scheme because it was destined to fail, and would not help recycling rates.

That doesn’t mean we don’t need a system that works.

What is happening now that the Council’s trailblazer consultation has finished?

Regarding refuse solutions, the tumbleweed seems to be blowing through the Town Hall at the moment.

For the sake of those that work there, let’s hope it’s not followed by soiled nappies, takeaway cartons and plastic bags.

Yours sincerely,

[What do you think Hastings Council should do about refuse collection and recycling?  Please use the form below to send in your views]

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