Roger Harmer

A fundraising campaign has been launched to save the Staffordshire Hoard for the West Midlands.

In July last year a metal detector enthusiast discovered the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found, in a Staffordshire field not far from Birmingham. News coverage of the find was huge - and over 40,000 people queued to see the Hoard in Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, before it went to London for study by the British Museum. The Hoard includes over 1,500 incredible objects - all apparantly drawn from the battlefield and displaying breathtaking craftmanship, from a period of our history described as the Dark Ages.

But for the Staffordshire Hoard, a final battle remains. We have just 12 weeks to raise the £3.3m needed to secure its future on public display in the West Midlands. If we fail to do this, the treasure will be returned to the finder and landowner and could end up being sold on the open market. But if we do raise the money, it will go on display at  Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke.

I’m making a contribution. I feel that the Staffordshire Hoard is a priceless connection with our past and should be kept together near to where it was found. I’m also sure that it will act as a magnet drawing more visitors to our City, giving our economy a boost. If you want to make a donation you can do so online at www.artfund.org/hoard

Sir Thomas Legg’s commission has now ruled on the amount that MPs must repay from their second home expenses claims.

There are two MPs covering Acocks Green - until the General Election, when the whole of the Ward will become part of the Yardley constituency. The situation for our MPs is as follows:

John Hemming, Lib Dem MP for Yardley, does not have to repay anything,

Roger Godsiff, Labour MP for Sparkbrook & Small Heath, has to repay £2,224.30. According to the BBC he is one of the MPs who has not yet repayed what he owes.

The full list of every repayment due, and who has paid up so far, can be found on the BBC website via this link

I attended last night’s Acocks Green South Police Tasking meeting at Lakey Lane Primary School. As usual there was a good attendance from local residents and a variety of topics, local and general were covered. An update was given on the previous priorities (from the December meeting, as the January meeting was cancelled due to the snow) was given:

1) Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) at the top of Edenbridge Road and Lakefield Close: Action has been taken with one youth who lives in the maisonettes in this section of Edenbridge road identified. He has been interviewed by the Police and Housing have issued first stage warnings for breach of tenancy against his parents. Other youths have also been identified and referred to the Birmingham Anti Social Behaviour Unit (BASBU) with first stage warning letters sent to all. These actions have led to a significant decline in ASB in the area but a close watch on the area will be maintained for the time being.

2) Parking issues around Lakey Lane School: Officers have partrolled the area and warned parents who have broken traffic regulations. Where these warnings have not been heeded fixed penalties tickets have been issued. In addition, following an idea from a member of the public a “Alcohol Restriction Zone” notice has been bought and put up in the alleyway between Stonehaven Grove and Lakey Lane. This appears to have reduced the drink related ASB in the alleyway.

Priorities for the coming month were set as:

1) Edenbridge Road / Lakefield Close: carried forward from last month as above

2) Tibland Road: Following a recurrance of the previous sporadic ASB in this area, letters will be sent by the Council’s Housing Department setting out tenant’s obligations to keep their children under control. They will be delivered by the Police and will hopefully nip the problem in the bud before it gets any worse.

3) Northanger Road: While the problem of ASB in the area is better than before sporadic problems continue especially around the Greenwood Avenue end of Northanger Road. Attention will be paid to the area by the Police in addition to ongoing work by the Council’s Housing Department to keep the problem under control.

The good news is that crime has continued to fall in the area, with 30 fewer crimes in the period Jan 1 to 29 2010 than the same period a year ago. Within these figures the number of burglaries from homes fell from 18 to 8. However there are ongoing reports of bogus callers in the area so please keep alert to the threat these people are to the elderly and report any suspicious people to the Police.

Councillor Neville Summerfield, the Cabinet member for Regeneration, has responded to my request for clarification about the proposed Acocks Green Conservation Area by going public on the issue in yesterday’s Full Council Meeting. He gave a state of play of all the Conservation Areas in development in the City and promised that Acocks Green is indeed in the workplan and will be developed when resources allow.

So timing remains the issue. Clearly the original aim of starting work on the scheme in 6 months (from last November) was over ambitious. With the Head of Conservation retiring at the end of March and lots of other work to do, it will take longer than that, however Cllr Summerfield did say he will do all he can to speed things up - and he knows that the three Acocks Green Councillors will be on his back until he does! As soon as I have any further information on timing I will post on this issue again.

Meanwhile 42 and 44 Flint Green Road have gone back on the market and are scheduled to be sold at auction (with a guide price of £150k each) - by John Shepherd at the Greswolde Hotel, High Street, Knowle on Thursday 18th March. This is a link to the sales details of No 42 and this is  a link to the sale details of No 44

Monday’s meeting of the Fox Hollies Neighbourhood Forum had to be abandoned when over a hundred members of the public turned up to have their say about the bus route changes, which have featured highly in this blog recently. With the meeting to be held in the Fitness Suite of the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre, which simply cant take that many people, the management of the Centre had to call a halt. This was a great shame for those who came, but I’m sure the manager who came from National Express will have been left in no doubt about the strength of public opinion about the changes they have made!

The good news for those who went - or wanted to go but couldnt make it, is that another meeting - in a much larger hall (it can hold 250) has been organised by my Lib Dem colleagues in Hall Green. This meeting will be at 10.30am in Hall Green Baptist Church on Saturday 13th February.

Meanwhile our local Lib Dem MP, John Hemming has raised the issue (and in particular the lack of consultation over the changes) in Parliament. In a debate about the new Passenger Focus watchdog (which can be seen in full on his blog via this link) he said:

“I would like to carry out what I call the “No. 41 bus test” on whether the new watchdog and the order are of any use. At times, it is good to look at specific problems and at whether they are likely to be improved. The No. 41 bus served part of Birmingham and Solihull until the weekend, and its withdrawal has caused major problems, particularly in Stockfield road, Dolphin lane and Shirley road. We have to ask whether giving the powers to Passenger Focus will enable something to be done for those local residents—probably not, I would say.

Together with local councillors, I have lobbied to keep the No. 41 bus service, but we have just been ignored—well, “ignored” is not exactly the right word; we have had meetings with the transport authority and with National Express. Passenger Focus has the right to ask for information, but not to prevent the service from being withdrawn. As a watchdog it has a bark, but in practice it does not have a bite. The transport commissioners may have a bite, but the bite to retain a bus service does not exist, and that is where the matter fails the No. 41 bus test.

Councillors Iain Bowen and Paula Wagg proposed a circular bus route. That could have been proposed via Passenger Focus. The National Express Group has turned that down, and Passenger Focus would not make any difference to that.”

So the campaign is gathering momentum - we also submitted a petition on the issue that had been collected by Mecca Bingo’s customers at this afternoon’s (Tuesday’s) Full Council meeting. With growing public anger it is clearly time for National Express and Centro to make a move. 

Those of us pushing for the development of a Conservation Area for Acocks Green were very disappointed by the report of Julie Taylor, the Conservation Officer for our area, at last week’s Yardley Consituency Committee. She said that any work on developing the Conservation Area will have to go into a queue of work that is currently 18 months long and may get longer. This contradicts the information I was given by the Cabinet Member, Cllr Neville Summerfield, who said we may have to wait around 6 months, so I have asked him to comment and will blog again when I have news.

Meanwhile it is interesting to see that both 42 and 44 Flint Green Road were both briefly put on the market (I received an email alert saying they were on the market last night) for auction (each with a guide price of £150,000), but have, as of this morning, come back off the market. This could be for all sorts of reasons and it will be interesting to see what happens next. Both these important properties are within the proposed Conservation Area and clearly any change of ownership would open up the issue of what will happen to them even further.  

As I mentioned in my last posting here, a meeting was held in the Council House on Friday evening between senior managers from National Express West Midlands, Centro, Councillors from Acocks Green, Hall Green, South Yardley and Springfield and John Hemming, MP for Yardley. The purpose of the meeting was discuss the changes to the bus routes (in force as of yesterday) I have previously blogged about, which affect the south east of the City.

There was an understanding and acceptance from both National Express and Centro that the way these changes have been brought in was poor with a failure to hold any consultation about them. There was a promise that meaningful consultation would be carried out, for any future such proposed changes. This will involve locally elected members and other key groups having the chance to have their say, before any final decisions are taken.

There was also an acceptance that these particular changes will cause problems for specific geographic areas and groups of residents, in particular those visiting the Hall Green Health Centre (many of whom will now have to change buses). Oaklands School has lost its service and some other local schools will also suffer a significantly poorer service. Councillor Iain Bowen put forward a very interesting suggestion that most of these issues could be dealt with by running a circular service from Acocks Green Village, down Dolphin Lane, Shirley Road, School Road, up Stratford Road, Shaftmoor Lane and back to Acocks Green. This would need to run during the times people visit the Health Clinic or go to the local Schools.

Centro and National Express made no promises, however they did agree to look again at the changes, particularly in light of how they work in practice in coming weeks. So the door does remain open on the issue, which is probably the best we were likely to get as an immediate outcome from the meeting.

We agreed that, as the changes have most impact on Acocks Green and Hall Green, further discussions with Centro and National Express would be led, from the group of Councillors, by Councillors Iain Bowen (for Acocks Green) and Paula Smith (for Hall Green). Cllr Bowen keeps in touch with this blog, so if you wish to post comments here he will see them. Please do let us know how the new services work in practice (both good and bad aspects) so that we can feedback to National Express and Centro and keep the pressure on for an improved package of services.

Not surprisingly the shockingly badly mismanged changes to local bus routes imposed by National Express West Midlands continues to cause much anger in Acocks Green, Hall Green and beyond.

In principle some elements of the changes make sense, but the overall package and the way it has been carried out, with no consultation and very poor information to bus users, has turned what could have been a manageable exercise into a horrendous mistake, which will cause significant problems to many local residents. If National Express WM had been prepared to have real consultation, and make some amendments to the changes, instead of just imposing them, it might have been possible to have reached a solution, which met most of the needs of those who will lose out. But they weren’t interested in such an approach.

Apart from complaining to National Express directly we have (through Cllr Jon Hunt, Birmingham City Council’s lead member on buses) contacted Centro (the regional public body that looks after public transport issues) and asked them to organise a mini bus review in our area, with, this time,  real consultation. Centro asked National Express to suspend the changes ahead of such a review. However, I have just heard that, not content with ignoring their customers, National Express, have now ignored Centro too and have refused to suspend the changes to allow such a review.

We will not let things rest at this and have asked Centro to arrange a meeting with senior managers at National Express. John Hemming, Yardley’s Lib Dem MP will attend, as will pretty all Acocks Green and Hall Green’s local Councillors. It is essential that these senior National Express managers understand what a mess up their Acocks Green team have made and how needless much of it is.

I understand also that this will also be discussed at Monday’s meeting of the Fox Hollies Green Neighbourhood Forum at 7pm at the Fox Hollies Leisure Centre (in the Fitness Suite). I look forward to what I imagine will be a lively meeting!

The next meeting of the Yardley Constituency Committee will be this coming Thursday, 28th January, at Acocks Green Library. The meeting starts at 6.30pm.

The main items on the agenda are:

• An update on the Constituency Budget for 2009/10
• The Constituency Parks and Open Space Action Plan, with Pat Terry, Parks Manager attending
• An update on Section 106 agreements in the Constituency
• The Town Centre Management Delivery Plan for Acocks Green, with Melinda Brown, Town Centre Manager, attending
• The report on School Admissions & Appeals that was to have gone to Acocks Green Ward Committee, at the meeting cancelled earlier this month due to the snow.
• A report on Conservation Policy, with Julie Taylor, Principal Conservation Officer, attending 

We now have the detailed unemployment figures for December. The headine numbers are that seasonally adjusted unemployment in the UK fell by 19,700 in the month. On the surface this is a surprisingly good result. National unemployment now stands at 5.8%, while in Birmingham it is over twice this level at 12.8%. Within Birmingham unadjusted unemployment fell in 30 of the 40 Wards in December. Sadly in Acocks Green it rose by 13 to 1,336 or 12.1%. This is up 320 on the year.

The fall in unemployment, modest and patchy though it is, has surprised economists, because unemployment usually keeps rising well after economic recovery starts. While growth probably resumed in the final quarter of 2009 (we dont have the figures yet), it would have been weak at best, and certainly not enough to generate extra jobs.

The explanation of what is going on, seems to be that in fact the economy has not been generating extra jobs. Instead there has been a combination of:

1) Employers keeping staff by putting them on short-time working. Eaton Electrical, one of Acocks Green’s biggest private sector employers, has done this throughout 2009.

2) A growth in part-time working. Nationally part-time working has reached a record high of 7.71m, of which at least 1m would rather have a full time job, but cant find one.

3) Increasing impact of the Government’s make work schemes. A good example is the Future Jobs Fund, which Birmingham is using really well, to cut youth unemployment.  

There are good and bad sides to all this. On the positive side, its good news that fewer people (and especially young people) are out of work, than we would have expected from the savage recession we endured in 2008-9. It will lessen the long-term damage, as more people will keep the work habit, and are less likely to become long-term unemployed, than in previous recessions.

The less positive aspect is that it reinforces the concern, that the recovery is going to be slow and painful. The huge amount of public spending used to keep the economy going (in part on schemes like the Future Jobs Fund) will have to be cut back as the economy recovers. This means public sector employment (Birmingham City Council included) will fall substantially as a result. In the meantime, as the private sector recovers, it will prioritise getting staff back on full time before employing new staff. So while the peak level of unemployment may be lower than anticipated, it is very hard to see how it will return to 2008 levels any time soon.

Meanwhile whoever wins the General Election later this year will have to walk a difficult tightrope managing the economy, and in particular dealing with the huge government deficit. Cut it too soon (as I fear the Tories would) and you risk choking off the recovery before it develops sufficient strength. Cut it too slowly (as I fear Labour would) and you risk international fears about UK government debt, leading to rising interest rate costs and a falling pound. In such circumstances, I am sure the best man for the job would be Lib Dem Treasury Spokesman Vince Cable. He had the foresight to see what was coming back in 2007, and is the best placed politician to get us out of the mess we are now in.