Council changes mind on bus concession
7:51pm Thursday 19th June 2008
Comments (22)
PENSIONERS have won their fight to get free early morning buses in Darlington after the council reversed its decision to cut concessionary fares before 9.30am.
Darlington Borough Council has revoked a restriction on free bus travel for the over-60s and disabled people which meant they had to pay for journeys before 9.30am.
Council leader John Williams told The Northern Echo today that an underestimation of the councils insurance policy meant £200,000 had become available.
This is the amount needed to subsidise early morning concessionary fares.
The authority sparked outrage amongst pensioners when it announced it the early morning restriction earlier this year.
It was the only one in the North-East to charge pensioners and disabled people to travel before 9.30am despite a Government policy which meant they were entitled to travel for free.
Coun Williams said the insurance policy had been estimated as £1.5m, but they were told on Wednesday it had come in at £200,000 less than had been budgeted for.
Councillor Gill Cartwright, who started a petition to get free early morning travel for concessionary fares reinstated, said: "I am extremely pleased that the council has finally seen sense and given our pensioners what they deserve."
Your Say YourThe Northern Echo
Brian, Darlington says...
9:00am Fri 20 Jun 08
This incompetent Council getting an estimate WRONG by 200,000 pound is getting to be a re-occurring event. But lets all praise John Williams for admitting he was WRONG, for being the only council in the North-East to put this financial burden on pensioners.
In the last local elections, this council promised to start listening to the electorate, if only they could react to the electorates concerns as quick as they spend the Council Tax Payers funds.
In the last local elections, this council promised to start listening to the electorate, if only they could react to the electorates concerns as quick as they spend the Council Tax Payers funds.
Charlie, Darlington says...
12:48pm Fri 20 Jun 08
Well,well,well if it isnt Mr Woeful Wallis coming on here telling us how our benevolent council have decided from the goodness of their hearts to allow our pensioners free travel before 9:30.The fact that he and his cronies wasted yes wasted millions of taxpayers pounds in overspend on the Town Centre fiasco and the Eastern Corridor Road link seems not to matter.The fact is Mr "Tefal" Wallis this pre 9:30am free travel should have been in place as other Councils have done.You should hang your head in shame.Just for good measure you even have the cheek to make our older people feel guilty by implying it was either Post Office subsidies or Bus subsidies.We probably will never know why you chaged your minds on free travel but I will bet it wasnt people pressure more probably to to with legality of how it was implemented..
PJ, Durham says...
3:28pm Fri 20 Jun 08
Charlie, people like you really are sounding like a stuck record, I have noticed over the last few weeks the relativley small minority who post on this site just bleat about the Council, most of you speculate, often comment obviously without knowing all the facts and seem very reluctant to give any credit to anyone in the Council, and to personalise comments against individual Councillors is probably as low as you can get in terms of making "constructive" comments of politicians. What I do know having worked on both sides of the public/private divide is most of you whiners would not have the intellectual capacity to help in running a local authority or do you? In which case why don't you run for office and we will see how you fare. I don't suppose you have any hard evidence to support your last comment about the legality of the decision? No there's a surprise, you carry on spreading your bile I suspect as far as Cllr Wallis is concerned it bile of a ducks back.
charlie, PJ says...
4:25pm Fri 20 Jun 08
I live in Darlington and I am a council tax payer PJ and its my money that I see wasted by this council with never an apology for their incompetence.I am entitled in a democracy to sound off and when I see the same name time after time being banded around as being the council representative on failed or overspent projects then I will have my say.You live in Durham and dont pay council tax here - if it was your money you may think differently.
charlie, PJ says...
4:27pm Fri 20 Jun 08
I live in Darlington and I am a council tax payer PJ and its my money that I see wasted by this council with never an apology for their incompetence.I am entitled in a democracy to sound off and when I see the same name time after time being banded around as being the council representative on failed or overspent projects then I will have my say.You live in Durham and dont pay council tax here - if it was your money you may think differently.
Ann, Darlington says...
7:16pm Fri 20 Jun 08
In response to some of the posts above, the pre-conception that many people have of this free bus travel scheme was that it was that it was unlimited 24/7.
This is in-fact wrong, what Cllr. Nick Wallis stated above is correct, the free travel scheme was for travel from 9.30am until 11pm on weekdays, and all day weekends and bank holidays. Anybody can see the full details of the scheme on the government website:
http://www.dft.gov.u
k/pgr/regional/buses
/concessionary/answe
rstofaq/answerstocbt
faq?page=1#a1001
Therefore, anything offered extra such as travel before 9.30am has to be funded locally. This is where Darlington Borough Council decided not to provide the additional funding, unlike some other local councils. DBC are not the only council to make the same decision.
I wonder if any of you are aware that majority of other councils who implemented the extra bonus of peak travel actually had to cut services such as subsidised bus routes for villages, rape crisis centres, and several popular seaside resorts have estimated that this scheme will cost them in the region of £1.8 million.
While I do not agree with DBC on everything I understand the stance they took on the free travel. They decided they had a responsibility to all residents of Darlington not just the pensioners, and did not cut other services.
Also this free bus travel scheme is available to everyone over 60 and disabled people, therefore even un-retired people can claim this free travel.
I personally do not agree with this, as I know someone who has recently turned 60, both this person and their partner are both working (full time), have a very good income with no dependents living with them, yet this person is entitled to the free travel.
Therefore, this should be means tested for the people not yet retired to take into consideration of people working part time or doing voluntary work.
Also in my opinion this scheme should be to help pensioners in their general lives not to be taken advantage of, such going on holiday as with the recent national reporting of pensioners taking cross country trips on the bus.
And to just clear up, in case people get the wrong impression, I do not work for the council or government. I have just got fed up with all the bull**** reporting regarding this scheme.
This is in-fact wrong, what Cllr. Nick Wallis stated above is correct, the free travel scheme was for travel from 9.30am until 11pm on weekdays, and all day weekends and bank holidays. Anybody can see the full details of the scheme on the government website:
http://www.dft.gov.u
k/pgr/regional/buses
/concessionary/answe
rstofaq/answerstocbt
faq?page=1#a1001
Therefore, anything offered extra such as travel before 9.30am has to be funded locally. This is where Darlington Borough Council decided not to provide the additional funding, unlike some other local councils. DBC are not the only council to make the same decision.
I wonder if any of you are aware that majority of other councils who implemented the extra bonus of peak travel actually had to cut services such as subsidised bus routes for villages, rape crisis centres, and several popular seaside resorts have estimated that this scheme will cost them in the region of £1.8 million.
While I do not agree with DBC on everything I understand the stance they took on the free travel. They decided they had a responsibility to all residents of Darlington not just the pensioners, and did not cut other services.
Also this free bus travel scheme is available to everyone over 60 and disabled people, therefore even un-retired people can claim this free travel.
I personally do not agree with this, as I know someone who has recently turned 60, both this person and their partner are both working (full time), have a very good income with no dependents living with them, yet this person is entitled to the free travel.
Therefore, this should be means tested for the people not yet retired to take into consideration of people working part time or doing voluntary work.
Also in my opinion this scheme should be to help pensioners in their general lives not to be taken advantage of, such going on holiday as with the recent national reporting of pensioners taking cross country trips on the bus.
And to just clear up, in case people get the wrong impression, I do not work for the council or government. I have just got fed up with all the bull**** reporting regarding this scheme.
martin darlington driver, darlington says...
7:31pm Fri 20 Jun 08
the correct times of issuing free tickets are not 11pm curfew at all it has always been the case they can be used till last service ie midnight .
i was also led to belive that the 9.30am restriction was for people going to work and for school children but they haven`t been choc a block at all now that there free again though i`m sure the old pensioners can get on at marks and spensers get the free paper and get back off again at the market.
same old same old story
i was also led to belive that the 9.30am restriction was for people going to work and for school children but they haven`t been choc a block at all now that there free again though i`m sure the old pensioners can get on at marks and spensers get the free paper and get back off again at the market.
same old same old story
Cllr Gill Cartwright, says...
11:31pm Fri 20 Jun 08
The article does not imply that the council was getting the bus fares paid before 9.30am?
The bus company did require a subsidy to provide the free travel which the cabinet chose not to pay. The original figure quoted was 300K and then suddenly it was 200K, based on what figures did it suddenly dropped by 100K?
Why can the council not fund the post offices as well as free concessionary travel?
The bus company did require a subsidy to provide the free travel which the cabinet chose not to pay. The original figure quoted was 300K and then suddenly it was 200K, based on what figures did it suddenly dropped by 100K?
Why can the council not fund the post offices as well as free concessionary travel?
Nick Wallis, Darlington says...
2:31pm Sat 21 Jun 08
Gill.
The original figure provided by Arriva for free travel before 9.30am was around £300,000. It was made clear, however, that this was an estimate. You may recall that the portfolio holder, Cllr. David Lyonette, said that the council would keep this issue under review. That we have done.
It would now appear that free travel can be provided for less than £300,000 on the information provided by Arriva. We will have to wait for the report to Cabinet on 9th July to see how the final figures break down.
What is key here is that had it not been for the council's determination to get the best value for money as far as its insurance is concerned, the money would not have become available to subsidise free travel 24/7 for concessionary pass holders. Darlington Borough Council has the highest rating (a '4') for delivering value for money services, as assessed by the independent Audit Commission, who believe me do not award that accolade lightly.
As for subsidising the post offices - well, firstly Royal Mail have made it clear that they will not allow the Hopetown post office to remain open under any circumstances (apparently owing to the impact on the business of other nearby post offices which are to remain open). That is, I have to say, a very disappointing response.
To keep the other 4 post offices open would require a council subsidy of £120,000 a year. In difficult times, where the council already had to make some hard decisions on environmental health, trading standards and subsidised bus routes, for example, there simply isn't the money for the post offices as well as the free concessionary bus passes.
The Labour Council has therefore done what we promised back in February - we have listened to the views of residents (through Talking Together and other listening events) and made a change when the money became available.
I know that doesn't accord with the spin the Tories in Darlington want to put on this and every other issue, but the facts are irrefutable.
Of course, when you're in opposition, it's easy to demand the council funds every worthy cause under the sun. When you have been elected to steer the council, however, sometimes very difficult decisions have to be taken. This is one such example. I believe that the Council will be right in prioritising free travel for concessionary pass holders.
Cllr. Nick Wallis
http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
The original figure provided by Arriva for free travel before 9.30am was around £300,000. It was made clear, however, that this was an estimate. You may recall that the portfolio holder, Cllr. David Lyonette, said that the council would keep this issue under review. That we have done.
It would now appear that free travel can be provided for less than £300,000 on the information provided by Arriva. We will have to wait for the report to Cabinet on 9th July to see how the final figures break down.
What is key here is that had it not been for the council's determination to get the best value for money as far as its insurance is concerned, the money would not have become available to subsidise free travel 24/7 for concessionary pass holders. Darlington Borough Council has the highest rating (a '4') for delivering value for money services, as assessed by the independent Audit Commission, who believe me do not award that accolade lightly.
As for subsidising the post offices - well, firstly Royal Mail have made it clear that they will not allow the Hopetown post office to remain open under any circumstances (apparently owing to the impact on the business of other nearby post offices which are to remain open). That is, I have to say, a very disappointing response.
To keep the other 4 post offices open would require a council subsidy of £120,000 a year. In difficult times, where the council already had to make some hard decisions on environmental health, trading standards and subsidised bus routes, for example, there simply isn't the money for the post offices as well as the free concessionary bus passes.
The Labour Council has therefore done what we promised back in February - we have listened to the views of residents (through Talking Together and other listening events) and made a change when the money became available.
I know that doesn't accord with the spin the Tories in Darlington want to put on this and every other issue, but the facts are irrefutable.
Of course, when you're in opposition, it's easy to demand the council funds every worthy cause under the sun. When you have been elected to steer the council, however, sometimes very difficult decisions have to be taken. This is one such example. I believe that the Council will be right in prioritising free travel for concessionary pass holders.
Cllr. Nick Wallis
http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
Brian, Darlington says...
4:40pm Sat 21 Jun 08
Nick, may I ask you a question, If there was not such a large over spend on the Pedestrian heart project and the Eastern corridor road, would there have been funds to support other worth while projects?
Cllr. Nick Wallis, Darlington says...
8:29pm Sat 21 Jun 08
Hi Brian.
You're right - there was a large overspend on Pedestrian Heart. How big the overspend on the Eastern Transport Corridor will be remains to be seen - officers and the contractors are working hard to bring the figure down. The Council is also bidding for extra cash from the Government to make up some of the shortfall.
Darlington Borough Council is a small unitary authority (the third smallest in England)and has relatively little experience managing large capital projects. Having said that, the Council works with private sector partners (we have framework agreements with several private companies which have skills in these areas). It was hoped that these partnerships would help offset the Council's lack of experience and staffing capacity in key areas.
In addition, as you may have seen from the Echo, there have been thorough cross-party scrutiny investigations into the problems both with the Pedestrian Heart and Eastern Transport Corridor. Lessons have certainly been learned.
Regarding your specific question on money for other worthwhile causes - well of course if money has been taken up to complete these two schemes, it cannot be spent elsewhere. Having said that, the likely overspends are a fraction of the council's total capital budget.
What the overspends have not affected are the services provided through the Council's revenue budget - the running costs of schools, social services, bin collection and the like. So the funding of the concessionary pass issue has always been completely separate from the Pedestrian Heart and ETC, although of course local Tory politicians have worked hard to conflate the two in the minds of local residents.
Cllr. Nick Wallis
http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
You're right - there was a large overspend on Pedestrian Heart. How big the overspend on the Eastern Transport Corridor will be remains to be seen - officers and the contractors are working hard to bring the figure down. The Council is also bidding for extra cash from the Government to make up some of the shortfall.
Darlington Borough Council is a small unitary authority (the third smallest in England)and has relatively little experience managing large capital projects. Having said that, the Council works with private sector partners (we have framework agreements with several private companies which have skills in these areas). It was hoped that these partnerships would help offset the Council's lack of experience and staffing capacity in key areas.
In addition, as you may have seen from the Echo, there have been thorough cross-party scrutiny investigations into the problems both with the Pedestrian Heart and Eastern Transport Corridor. Lessons have certainly been learned.
Regarding your specific question on money for other worthwhile causes - well of course if money has been taken up to complete these two schemes, it cannot be spent elsewhere. Having said that, the likely overspends are a fraction of the council's total capital budget.
What the overspends have not affected are the services provided through the Council's revenue budget - the running costs of schools, social services, bin collection and the like. So the funding of the concessionary pass issue has always been completely separate from the Pedestrian Heart and ETC, although of course local Tory politicians have worked hard to conflate the two in the minds of local residents.
Cllr. Nick Wallis
http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
Cllr Gill Cartwright, Darlington says...
9:19pm Sat 21 Jun 08
Nick
Concessionary travel should have a top priority back in March. The fact is this council tryed to make a saving using our pensioners as a soft target. It was a short sighted decision by a Labour cabinet who clearly do not understand or care about the needs of elderly and disabled Darlington residents. All for the sake of £10 per year per pass holder.
Clearly Gordons madness with the 10p tax decision has filtered through to local level.
It is a good job that the Conservative group do actually care and recognised that this was an appalling decision and had the drive to continue to highlight the issue until you had to act.
I hope you have learnt another valuable lesson of where your priorites should lie along with all the other lessons from the PHart and the ETC.
Time will tell.
Concessionary travel should have a top priority back in March. The fact is this council tryed to make a saving using our pensioners as a soft target. It was a short sighted decision by a Labour cabinet who clearly do not understand or care about the needs of elderly and disabled Darlington residents. All for the sake of £10 per year per pass holder.
Clearly Gordons madness with the 10p tax decision has filtered through to local level.
It is a good job that the Conservative group do actually care and recognised that this was an appalling decision and had the drive to continue to highlight the issue until you had to act.
I hope you have learnt another valuable lesson of where your priorites should lie along with all the other lessons from the PHart and the ETC.
Time will tell.
Cllr. Nick Wallis, says...
9:45pm Sat 21 Jun 08
Gill.
Please explain how the Cabinet "tried to make a saving" in respect of concessionary fare passes. The Government funded scheme provided only for off-peak travel Monday to Friday, free all day at weekends.
As Ann has pointed out above, those councils which did provide a free 24/7 scheme from the outset this year (about a quarter of those in England, I estimate) did so by often having to make some pretty unpleasant savings elsewhere.
So Darlington's Labour-controlled council has been able to invest further sums in concessionary travel only when the funds have been available as a result of savings elsewhere. A financially responsible position to take.
I think that this thread has been genuinely useful in exposing a lot of the myths shamelessly peddled by the Tory Group over the last few months. I hope that the facts get wider coverage in the paper.
Please explain how the Cabinet "tried to make a saving" in respect of concessionary fare passes. The Government funded scheme provided only for off-peak travel Monday to Friday, free all day at weekends.
As Ann has pointed out above, those councils which did provide a free 24/7 scheme from the outset this year (about a quarter of those in England, I estimate) did so by often having to make some pretty unpleasant savings elsewhere.
So Darlington's Labour-controlled council has been able to invest further sums in concessionary travel only when the funds have been available as a result of savings elsewhere. A financially responsible position to take.
I think that this thread has been genuinely useful in exposing a lot of the myths shamelessly peddled by the Tory Group over the last few months. I hope that the facts get wider coverage in the paper.
Brian, Darlington says...
8:19am Sun 22 Jun 08
Nick,
Thank you for your swift response, I note in your reply that the council does not have the experience or staff to manage Major Capital Projects, may I ask, the personnel whom initiated the overspent projects on behalf of DBC will have surely been moved on. Due to Darlington being a small unitary authority (third smallest in England) it could not really afford to carry dead weight.
May I also take this opportunity to point out that I believe there is still a mismanagement of the ETC, the work has been prioritized in the wrong areas. The Haughton Road section of ETC should have been given top priority to reduce the time frame of congestion it has created, from my own observations, the project is been driven by the Contractor (Birse) instead of the Client (DBC).
In your response you state that the overspend has not affected the services the council provide, but surely the above inflation increase in council tax will have off-set the overspend on MCP, therefore there can be no increase in services, unless an underestimated insurance policy suddenly becomes available.
Thank you for your swift response, I note in your reply that the council does not have the experience or staff to manage Major Capital Projects, may I ask, the personnel whom initiated the overspent projects on behalf of DBC will have surely been moved on. Due to Darlington being a small unitary authority (third smallest in England) it could not really afford to carry dead weight.
May I also take this opportunity to point out that I believe there is still a mismanagement of the ETC, the work has been prioritized in the wrong areas. The Haughton Road section of ETC should have been given top priority to reduce the time frame of congestion it has created, from my own observations, the project is been driven by the Contractor (Birse) instead of the Client (DBC).
In your response you state that the overspend has not affected the services the council provide, but surely the above inflation increase in council tax will have off-set the overspend on MCP, therefore there can be no increase in services, unless an underestimated insurance policy suddenly becomes available.
Gill Cartwright, Darlington says...
9:09pm Sun 22 Jun 08
Nick
The figures apparently as i stated at the time were estimated and now it appears estimated incorrectly.
I think readers are aware that the Government funded the national scheme for all councils.
However, you the Cabinet decided wrongly not to provide the funding for the free travel before 9.30am. Other local authorities in the area Middlesborough, Hartlepool, Stockton and Redcar all managed to fund from their budget.Perhaps you should have contacted some of your colleagues to show you how to put a budget together without cutting services.
Clearly they have their priorities correct and put the needs of their elderly residents high on their agenda.
If the sums had been correct(or even close)in the first place then the amount of money needed could have been more easily found by making savings elsewhere.
As far as exposing myths are concerned. Yourself and your colleagues seem to have forgotten people are not interested in hearing you moaning that you could not afford it. They are interested in you doing your job and providing a service, prioritising peoples needs.
The figures apparently as i stated at the time were estimated and now it appears estimated incorrectly.
I think readers are aware that the Government funded the national scheme for all councils.
However, you the Cabinet decided wrongly not to provide the funding for the free travel before 9.30am. Other local authorities in the area Middlesborough, Hartlepool, Stockton and Redcar all managed to fund from their budget.Perhaps you should have contacted some of your colleagues to show you how to put a budget together without cutting services.
Clearly they have their priorities correct and put the needs of their elderly residents high on their agenda.
If the sums had been correct(or even close)in the first place then the amount of money needed could have been more easily found by making savings elsewhere.
As far as exposing myths are concerned. Yourself and your colleagues seem to have forgotten people are not interested in hearing you moaning that you could not afford it. They are interested in you doing your job and providing a service, prioritising peoples needs.
Charlie, Darlington says...
8:34am Mon 23 Jun 08
Brian,
You might as well talk to a brick wall...No apologies,no accountability and no idea.Budgets and adherance to them seem well beyond our representatives.
Mostly in my experience the listening and consulting council decide behind closed doors what they will do,"consult" for taxpayers opinions and if after consultation the taxpayers dont agree with proposals the council go ahead anyway.Town Centre pedestrian heart in point.
You might as well talk to a brick wall...No apologies,no accountability and no idea.Budgets and adherance to them seem well beyond our representatives.
Mostly in my experience the listening and consulting council decide behind closed doors what they will do,"consult" for taxpayers opinions and if after consultation the taxpayers dont agree with proposals the council go ahead anyway.Town Centre pedestrian heart in point.
Joan Mctigue, Middlesbrough says...
12:15pm Mon 23 Jun 08
Congratulations to all concerned - it's high time other decisions were challenged more often. Labour are doing so many u-turns these days my head is spinning.
PJ, PJ says...
4:57pm Mon 23 Jun 08
Charlie (the whiner), I post from Durham but live in Darlington!! Don't pretend you represent the majority, you represent the whinging minority
Cllr. Nick Wallis, Darlington says...
9:19pm Mon 23 Jun 08
Brian.
Regarding the first issue - I can only say that having worked closely with DBC officers over the past 17 years, that there is no shortage of professionalism or commitment from senior members of staff. It's probably best if I refer you to the report written by the cross-party Resources Scrutiny Committee in respect of this matter which went to Cabinet, which you can find here http://www.darlingto
n.gov.uk/PublicMinut
es/Cabinet/June%203%
202008/Item%207.pdf and here http://www.darlingto
n.gov.uk/PublicMinut
es/Cabinet/June%203%
202008/Item%207%20-%
20Appendix%201.pdf
Regarding the timing of the roadworks at Haughton Road - this was a complex matter, which had to take into account other critical pieces of phasing, including the diversion of gas pipes/electricity cables. Every effort was made to minimise disruption to the public.
Gill - why can't you simply correct your statement that the Council "tried to make a saving" in respect of concessionary pass holders? The Tories would have more respect if you weren't constantly trying to argue that black is white to secure temporary political advantage. You must be aware that this kind of behaviour leaves you open to charges of yet more "Tory spin".
As I've indicated, it's easy for the Tories to live in a Never-Neverland where money can be found out of nowhere to take on new revenue commitments. You suggest that we should be taking a leaf out of other local councils' books.
Well, let's look at how Darlington could mimic the budgets of other North East authorities. We are unusual in providing services to vulnerable adults and disabled people who are not immediately in need. This helps keep older people in their homes, for example, rather than being admitted into residential care. It's good for them, and good for the community too.
Like some of our neighbours, however, we could reverse that policy, and provide support and assistance only to those people who are assessed as being in immediate need. That would save a substantial six figure sum on the budget. This may be how the Tories would balance the books to pay for their pet projects. It is not the direction that Darlington's Labour Council wishes to travel, however. We are putting the needs of Darlington's older people first.
Cllr. Nick Wallis
http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
Regarding the first issue - I can only say that having worked closely with DBC officers over the past 17 years, that there is no shortage of professionalism or commitment from senior members of staff. It's probably best if I refer you to the report written by the cross-party Resources Scrutiny Committee in respect of this matter which went to Cabinet, which you can find here http://www.darlingto
n.gov.uk/PublicMinut
es/Cabinet/June%203%
202008/Item%207.pdf and here http://www.darlingto
n.gov.uk/PublicMinut
es/Cabinet/June%203%
202008/Item%207%20-%
20Appendix%201.pdf
Regarding the timing of the roadworks at Haughton Road - this was a complex matter, which had to take into account other critical pieces of phasing, including the diversion of gas pipes/electricity cables. Every effort was made to minimise disruption to the public.
Gill - why can't you simply correct your statement that the Council "tried to make a saving" in respect of concessionary pass holders? The Tories would have more respect if you weren't constantly trying to argue that black is white to secure temporary political advantage. You must be aware that this kind of behaviour leaves you open to charges of yet more "Tory spin".
As I've indicated, it's easy for the Tories to live in a Never-Neverland where money can be found out of nowhere to take on new revenue commitments. You suggest that we should be taking a leaf out of other local councils' books.
Well, let's look at how Darlington could mimic the budgets of other North East authorities. We are unusual in providing services to vulnerable adults and disabled people who are not immediately in need. This helps keep older people in their homes, for example, rather than being admitted into residential care. It's good for them, and good for the community too.
Like some of our neighbours, however, we could reverse that policy, and provide support and assistance only to those people who are assessed as being in immediate need. That would save a substantial six figure sum on the budget. This may be how the Tories would balance the books to pay for their pet projects. It is not the direction that Darlington's Labour Council wishes to travel, however. We are putting the needs of Darlington's older people first.
Cllr. Nick Wallis
http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
Charlie, Darlington says...
1:39pm Tue 24 Jun 08
PJ - I dont recall ever mentioning in my threads I represented the views of the majority - (although no public posters seem to come down on the councils side) You have not commented at all on the issues and now you have deecided to pick on me personally by calling me names..You seem fairly articulate so why not join the debate??
Gill Cartwright, Darlington says...
6:15pm Tue 24 Jun 08
Nick
The Tories have plenty of respect nationally at the moment as well as in Darlington.
It seems strange that you accuse us of "spin" for listening to what the people who vote for us want and then acting accordingly.It is the job of opposition to challenge bad decisions.
No one has ever said that there is a bottomless pit of money ,everyone knows that the books have to be balanced. But priorities have to be made and you simply did not see the importance of free travel before 9.30am as being a priority for our pensioners.
You are now suggesting that the Tories would cut services for vulnerable adults? Based on what information do you make such a bold statement?
And you suggest that free travel for pensioners is a "pet project". Its funny how the rest of the town thought it was an essential service and thats why there was so much anger about the decision.
The Tories have plenty of respect nationally at the moment as well as in Darlington.
It seems strange that you accuse us of "spin" for listening to what the people who vote for us want and then acting accordingly.It is the job of opposition to challenge bad decisions.
No one has ever said that there is a bottomless pit of money ,everyone knows that the books have to be balanced. But priorities have to be made and you simply did not see the importance of free travel before 9.30am as being a priority for our pensioners.
You are now suggesting that the Tories would cut services for vulnerable adults? Based on what information do you make such a bold statement?
And you suggest that free travel for pensioners is a "pet project". Its funny how the rest of the town thought it was an essential service and thats why there was so much anger about the decision.
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Cllr. Nick Wallis, Darlington says...
8:41am Fri 20 Jun 08
Firstly, it wasn't the council which charged pensioners to use buses before 9.30am on weekdays - it was the bus companies who would only provide free travel if given a large amount of money by the local authority.
Secondly, it is wrong to say that Darlington pensioners had to pay to travel before 9.30am "despite a Government policy which meant that they were entitled to travel for free."
The Government initiative was to allow for free off peak travel Monday to Friday, and Darlington's scheme was in line with this policy. In a survey of 100 council's nationwide, at least half replicated Darlington's approach, so it was far less unusual than protestors wanted to make out.
So the Council hasn't "revoked" the restriction, but now has found the money to pay Arriva the extra subsidy which will allow travel before 9.30am Monday to Friday (weekends are free anyway).
You can read more here http://darlingtoncou
ncillor.blogspot.com
/2008/06/breaking-ne
ws-on-concessionary-
bus.html