Posts from — June 2010

Electricity and gas providers with their ‘deals’ when you pay by DD have always got my goat…

I don’t pay as much attention as I should to our home energy bills. With everything else going on the direct debit goes out each month and the paperless billing via the Web set up because it’s the cheapest deal means I don’t get around to looking at the actual charges vs what we pay by DD each month. 

My own fault and I should be more attentive. But sometimes I have a general ‘tidy up’ moment, generally when a car or property insurance is due for renewal. I tend to deal with those and at the same time take a look at other things like utilities. 

And this week I’d dug out the original gas and electricity contract from 12 months ago because I had the ‘bonus’ £100 voucher arrive which was the loyalty credit for sticking with one of the very best known providers around for a year.

It also made me wonder where we were balance wise and whether the 250 quid we pay each month is right. I couldn’t find the password for the online account and so ended up calling the contact centre. Very quick to answer and very polite and helpful.

Not surprising because the upshot was we were a shade under a thousand plus the voucher in credit. And that’s where the ‘fun’ starts and the title of this post comes from.

When I asked to reduce or temporarily cease the monthly payment the operator politely informed me that they have set dates for reviews and that anyway with the winter coming up it’s best to leave things as they are.

Not so said I and protested that holding my money in credit and then adding to it each month was wrong. She was pretty clear as to the procedures and assured me their calculations were right and ‘it would stop me from worrying about big bills’.

I thanked her but suggested she shouldn’t be concerned and instead should tell me what the last year’s bills came to. Just over two thousand came the reply, meaning my credit balance would keep rising. I did point that out but she was unmoved and certain it was in my interest to leave things as they are.

Enough was enough and I told her that if she wasn’t prepared to drastically cut or suspend the direct debits she should do whatever necessary for me to move my business elsewhere and send me a refund. Suddenly all the ‘lights’ came on and we got down to business.

Two months of no payments and a reduced direct debit of £180 monthly. Result… even though it was somewhat tedious. And whilst winning I thought I’d ask the question of whether the tariff we were on is the best one available.

Turns out it wasn’t and worse still the company had decided to scrap the particular scheme we were on meaning a 20% rise in my prices was around the corner. Were they going to tell me that I wonder?

So she ‘kindly’ changed me to a brand new, just launched, tariff which would see my annual gas and electricity costs reduce by £540 on what they were about to be. It felt like pulling teeth and although I got there in the end I fought the temptation to seek a further monthly payment reduction.

The lesson is, don’t take no for an answer, assume their main aim in life is to keep as much of your money in their bank as possible and, above all, never ever assume they really do have your best interests at heart.

Bring back basic quarterly bills, paid in full a couple of weeks after receipt. Currently you get charged more for that!

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A year ago we set out our Manifesto for Staffordshire which resulted in a landslide election win last June…

So, where are we now and what do the hugely difficult economic times mean for the next few years? Certainly for all of our four year term.

A bit of context. On Thursday June 4th last year we won Staffordshire after 28 years of uninterrupted Labour control. And by late afternoon the day after that, any sign of the previous Labour Administration had been removed by officials with offices cleared out and the ‘mechanics’ of new people taking over well underway.

The New Breman Room in County Buildings where Cabinet meets weekly

 When I walked into historic County Buildings on that afternoon to meet for our inaugural informal Cabinet get together, the responsibility for 35,000 employees and 300 public services affecting the lives of of nearly a million people every day began to sink in. Bizarrely, I remember the very moment that happened for me.

Just in case that last statement sounds a bit too dramatic, one thing over the last year is clear as absolute fact. And that is, whilst officials are the ‘constant’ in both local and national government, meaning things happen day to day and services are delivered as a matter of course with or without politicians, the decisions, philosophies, approach, mindset and competence of elected Members sets the fundamentals for everything.

That’s true in national government and local government but particularly in what’s called ‘top tier’ local government, like County, where policies affecting life and death, jobs and the wider economy are part of the day job. The political decisions at County can, and do, lead to outcomes as stark as black and white or up and down depending on those decisions.

As a brand new administration back in June it really was going into the unknown both for us and for the officials who had little idea of what to expect as individuals around day to day relationships.

It was clear that the previous Labour Administration were not ‘as one’, even in Cabinet, didn’t have a clear focus or plan on where Staffordshire needs to be in ten years time and the extent to which politicians were genuinely in charge varied massively department by department as well as being highly questionable overall.

That’s not a criticism of officials because if there’s a vacuum in leadership it has to be filled but that doesn’t change the fact that a fundamental culture change in the relationship between the Paid Service and new politicians was the first massive challenge. I suppose the first thing as far as the title of this post is concerned lies around the fact that relationships between officials and the new Conservative Administration could have been catastrophic because of that big cultural change that was needed.

That scenario didn’t happen and whilst things are not Utopian there is a clear sense of direction, a clear understanding who is accountable and responsible and a firm sense of basic political principles and values which we have set down around fairness, openess and shifting the fundamental approach more towards personal responsibility and away from ever greater state dependency.

So, I guess the first positive was getting through the political transition with the place in one piece and that, I believe, very firm foundations and values now underpin Staffordshire’s next few years. It is nearly as difficult to describe how challenging that journey has been as it is for anyone not directly involved to understand why it was so crucial and tough.

Then policy wise we’ve made a decent dent in our Manifesto pledges already as well as dealing with some pretty big issues we found unexpectedly…

Major retail development in Stafford including two new state-of-the-art office buildings:

This was one of the first surprises within days of taking office. It had been planned by Labour over several years at a cost of around £30million. It was about rationalising some of the many buildings which County has across Stafford town. It wasn’t a particularly robust business case when we opposed it in opposition and with the terrible state of public finances we were going to mothball the project until more stable finacial times when we’d try to improve it. 

The surprise was that just weeks before election day Labour had committed us to it. Our first real achievement was revamping and renegotiating the contracts, squeezing the costs, all in a matter of a couple of months, and turning the overall deal into a substantial cost saving for tax payers instead of the inherited additional cost. In short we made the very best of what potentially was a problem.

Lowest ever increase in council tax by the County Council:

The work to balance the budget ended up with just a 1.9% increase. A far cry from a few years ago when the County under Labour made a series of high increases the largest of which was a staggering 15%. And we plan to keep it below 2% next year meaning Staffordshire will qualify for the new national government scheme to match that cost resulting in no increase in council tax.

£30million pounds capital injection into Staffordshire’s roads:

A key pledge from last June. Moving money around and using an invest to save approach to start major improvements to our crumbling highways. The programme has now started across the county and it will take three years to complete.

Labour’s quarrying increases crushed:

The last Administration let quarrying in Staffordshire get out of hand with big increases in the amount of sand and gravel works our county provides over decades. A further increase in aggregate tonnage was due this year and Staffordshire was already providing two thirds of the total West Midlands quota. We’ve stopped any more increases in a measured way meaning job protection in existing quarries but no new ones. 

New road safety initiatives across hundreds of schools:

Another pledge from the Manifesto which has started the role out across Staffordshire of 20mph speed limits which are only operative at the times when children are arriving at or going home from school. The programme will focus on primary schools and will continue over the next three years. It’s got off to a solid start.

Business Support Fund helping through difficult times:

Banks still aren’t lending even to viable companies that want to grow. We set up in partnership with a commercial lending partner to underwrite a £1million small business scheme. The money lent so far has saved and supported a significant number of jobs. The numbers of applicants is growing and we’ll look at increasing funding further to keep viable businesses in business until banks start lending again.

Joined up services between the NHS and Social Care:

A fundamental change to social care which I’ve been working on for nine months. Including a ground breaking integration between front line social care teams and NHS ones it will mean a step change in the quality of services for people coming out of hospital, getting older and frailer and adults living life with disabilities.

Massive investment in independent supported living:

A four fold increase in the number of FlexiCare housing developments by the end of our first term. We’re on target with a big increase in schemes meaning more independence safe in the knowledge that 24/7 support is on hand. And now more and more will be homes for life meaning those who develop complex needs through Dementia or other illness can stay in the place they know. By the way, these are literally like four star hotels with amazing facilities and are available across Staffordshire for rent, shared equity purchase or outright purchase.

Staffordshire Cares – a better future for older and vulnerable people in our county:

And on the theme of greater independence and choice, Staffordshire Cares, the development of which is ongoing, will revolutionise people’s lives as they get older and need some support and also put Staffordshire in the national spotlight for helping people live life the way they want to. Watch this space for the launch shortly. It will be impressive… I promise.

Above are just a few specifics that come to mind. There are many more around education, a completely new approach to tackling alcohol misuse, encouraging volunteering, a mass reorganisation of Connexions, the careers service for young people, a countywide programme to bring pride to living in our wonderful county and more boring (but vital) things like just manging the money, Staffordshire’s assets and the ‘business’ better and more efficiently than in the past.

As far as the future is concerned, our country is in a bad way financially. Staffordshire must play its part in paying down the national debt. That will be a contribution of between a hundred and two hundred million in the next three years. Tough choices and tight public purse strings.

We will do our bit for the national crisis and I think we are better placed now than a year ago to see Staffordshire and its people through the challenges of the next few years and out the other side safely and very much in one piece if a little leaner, more efficient with some services changed or no longer there but overall better.

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Another insight into democracy working for thirty kids…

I’ve done dozens of these events now. And there have been some particularly enjoyable ones with ten and eleven year olds who clearly have a genuine grasp of debating and democracy.

An excellent couple of hours debating from St Anne’s Primary School

The recent one with kids from St Anne’s Primary School in Stafford was certainly one of the best ever.

Because of major restoration work which is happening in the County Chamber we had to use an unusual venue in the form of another part of County Buildings… Shire Hall.

To be precise, the old court room. A tad cramped but it added something to the atmosphere being surrounded by pictures of  ‘baddies’ near the steps down to the prison cells dating back more than a century.

Two hours of debate around how to spend a limited public budget on five key services. Roads over Health services, Education spending over Policing… lots of decisions to make and some pretty stiff criticism during exchanges between the three teams.

Straw polls and then an actual secret ballot to finish to see which team was most persuasive in their budget setting. 

Excellent!

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Another manifesto pledge met… this time modernising how the County offers services to Staffordshire…

We live in a fast consumer driven society and whilst government, local and national, is more than just providing services there’s no reason why the focus shouldn’t be on meeting the convenience of the 4million people each year who contact the County rather than expecting them to fit in with what suits the public sector.

Our latest manifesto pledge from last June to be delivered sees much increased opening hours, including Saturdays, simpler ways of contacting the County Council and a more efficient citizen focussed approach.

8am to 8pm Monday to Thursday, 8am to 6pm on Friday and 9am to 1pm on Saturdays… that’s an extra 30% on previous opening times. You may think it was easy to do but it wasn’t. A complicated overhaul to ensure it was done in a way which keeps costs down and improves efficiencies.

And getting rid many of the dozens of public numbers there were until now means a simple local rate call to 0300 111 8000 get’s you in touch.

Staffordshire County Council, welcome to 2010.

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