Month: Aug 2012

That the privateers are vanishing back into the woodwork and scuttling back under the dismal stones and rotten logs from whence they crawled, now that a new Birmingham City Council has turned the lights on speaks volumes about their opportunistic motivations. Perhaps they would rob your grave as readily?

North Beds NASUWT's avatarNorth Beds NASUWT

Commenting on reports that the creation of eight new academy schools in Birmingham have been put on hold after the council refused to write off £1.3 million in school debts, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“Why should the council taxpayers of Birmingham be penalised and forced to cover these liabilities. Birmingham City Council must stand firm against writing off these debts.

“If the private providers want to take over these schools so badly, then they also should take on the financial commitment that local authorities have made year-in, year-out.”

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North Beds NASUWT's avatarNorth Beds NASUWT

Responding to reports that since coming into office, the Coalition Government has sold off over 20 school playing fields, Chris Keates, General Secretary of the NASUWT, the largest teachers’ union, said:

“It comes as no surprise that another valuable public asset is being sold off by this Government.

“Asset stripping is taking place every day as the Government hands over valuable public land and buildings to the privateers who want to run academies and other parts of public services.

“It was the last Conservative Government that began selling off school playing fields.  This is just history repeating itself with another Government that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.”

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My heart bleeds…

Tom Pride's avatarPride's Purge

(satire)

A gang of smooth talking conmen has left a Sheffield man with next to nothing after conning him out of everything he had.

The 44-year old victim, Mr Nicholas Clegg from the Hallam area of Sheffield, only discovered he had been completely stripped of all his dignity after he was tricked into handing over everything he had to the smooth talking conmen – who gave an address in Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire

And police are warning many other unsuspecting people across the country could have fallen victim to the same scam by the same fraudsters – but not even be aware how much they have been conned out of.

The fraud was only uncovered after local residents started to realise large amounts of money were being withdrawn from the country’s coffers and paid into off-shore accounts controlled by friends of the wily conmen.

Police are warning the public that…

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MP Louise Mensch quits to spend more time with the Murdoch family

Tom Pride's avatarPride's Purge

(satire)

Conservative politician and novelist Louise Mensch is to stand down as an MP, so she can move to the US and spend more time with Rupert Murdoch’s family, the party has announced.

The MP for Corby is moving to New York with her three children and her husband of a year, Peter Mensch, where she will be able to be close to Rupert Murdoch, his sons James and Lachlan as well as his daughter Elizabeth.

The MP, who won her seat in 2010 with a 1,951 majority, said she was finding it increasingly difficult to juggle Murdoch family responsibilities with her political career and her decision to quit politics was “devastating but necessary if I want to make a lot more money”.

Writing to the prime minister to announce her resignation, Mrs Mensch said:

As you know, I have been struggling for some time to find the…

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Thank you, Ann. I shall certainly be reading this during the break.

Ann Walker's avatarLifelong Learning Matters

Henry Benedict Tam is well-known in the WEA because of his extensive experience in supporting the development of inclusive communities. He has led previous government initiatives on delivering wider democratic empowerment, promoting civil renewal and improving community-based regeneration. He has also been a thought-provoking speaker at various WEA events and has challenged us constructively from time to time. A former civil servant in the Home Office and Department of Communities and Local Government, he is currently the Director of Cambridge University’s Forum for Youth Participation & Democracy.

Professor Tam has drawn on his expertise as a policy advisor, programme director and political theorist to write extensively on politics and society, but, in a rather surprising new project, he has now written his first novel, Kuan’s Wonderland. He describes the book as a fable to intrigue and prompt debate. “Some may find it subversive”, he told me, “but aren’t novels meant…

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“The government will not listen if we ask nicely…”

Birmingham Against The Cuts's avatarBirmingham Against The Cuts

As we build towards the Tory conference demonstration on Sunday 7th October, and the TUC national demonstration in London on Saturday 20th October, there will be a public meeting, held at Birmingham City Council house, on Saturday 22nd September, from 2pm.

Speakers include Matt Wrack (President FBU firefighters union), Lee Barron (Chair Midlands TUC), Ian Hodson (President BWAFU bakers union) and Caroline Johnson (Birmingham Unison).
Birmingham City Council House, Victoria Square, B1 1BB. The council house is wheelchair accessible.

Unison will also hold a placard protest from 12 noon, marching to the rally. There will also be other events held in September to make these protests the largest yet in opposition to the Coalition’s failing austerity agenda. If you want to help make the events a success, come to the mobilising meeting on 20th August.

Last year, we wrote about why austerity will not work

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All Birmingham children should be brought up in a stable and safe environment. Ideally this should be in a family or family-like situation. For the small numbers for whom this is not possible, either in the short or in the longer term it seems reasonable to provide facilities to support and care for them. Of course, the history of such provision in Birmingham is a vexed and emotive subject, all the more reason why the provision should be adequately resourced.
I do wonder why Birmingham is maintaining resources outside Birmingham. I am not aware of the reasons for BCC running facilities in Dudley and I wonder why their continued operation is not secured by Dudley Council.
The cost of £3 million – what impact will that really have on the Budget? Set against the jobs lost with the direct and indirect, financial, social and human costs that will entail, set against the costs of failing the most vulnerable.

Birmingham Against The Cuts's avatarBirmingham Against The Cuts

Birmingham City Council have begun constulation over the possible closure of five childrens homes in Birmingham, as part of the cuts to the council’s 2012 budget.

The homes are Chamberlain Road in Billesley, Fountain Road in Harborne, Kings Lodge in Oscott and South Acre and Viscount House, which are both in Dudley. GMB say their closure will cost 170 jobs, and the council expect to save £3m.

However, the last time they closed children’s homes it ended up costing 41% more with some of the most vulnerable people in Birmingham being sent to care homes hundreds of miles away from their city.

Speaking to the Birmingham Mail, Coun Brigid Jones, cabinet member for children and family services, said:

For the vast majority of looked-after children, it is far better they grow up in a settled family environment as this improves their life chances, both emotionally and in terms…

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It does seem to be all about the money. And all about something for nothing.  That ‘something’ represents the collective expenditure of ourselves, our parents, their parents, their parents… right back to the 1870s when far-sighted, enterprising individuals with a social conscience and something missing from the new rich of today, a concept of ‘noblesse oblige,’ decided that the nation’s best interests would be served by educating all our children to a minimum standard. The best architects designed and built the schools to exacting standards. Many of these schools are still in use. Other land set aside for recreation and playing fields has already been disposed of at bargain-basement prices.
And these people who want to walk off with our public buildings, land and institutions with a sleight-of-hand are those who will tell you that you can’t have something for nothing.

askparentsfirst's avatarAsk Parents First

In a very welcome move Birmingham City Council has this week deferred decisions on academy conversion at 8 schools amid concerns about asset stripping and the practice of writing off debts for converting schools. This should come as a huge relief for the ordinary citizens of Birmingham, many of whom have probably been unaware that they have been haemorrhaging public assets and funds to the academies programme in this way over the past two years.

Read the newspaper report here  http://www.birminghampost.net/news/west-midlands-news/2012/08/02/eight-birmingham-academy-schools-on-hold-as-1-3-million-debts-loom-65233-31528483/#ixzz22T3NXabk

Matters had been set to get even worse with Michael Gove targeting the city’s primary schools for forced academy conversion. A plethora of new sponsors – many with little or no experience of running schools – has emerged in response to the Government’s forced academy programme, and they have been hovering like vultures over Birmingham schools. Meanwhile, the more established sponsors have been digging in. ARK announced in March…

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As Holland and Barrett and Pizza Hut, amongst other well known high street names, can attest, there really is no need, nor stomach, for Workfare here. It is a doctrinaire attempt to inject alien ideology into the British body-politic and as with many poorly thought through xenografts, being vigorously rejected by the host.

Birmingham Against The Cuts's avatarBirmingham Against The Cuts

Youth Fight For Jobs are holding a Protest against workfare profiteers, ESG at 1pm on Friday (3rd August), at their offices on Galbraith House, Great Charles street in Birmingham city centre.

ESG group currently hold a contract worth £4m over four years, for the government’s “work experience” schemes in the West Midlands. In reality, this represents yet another stick for the government to beat the unemployed with, as those who have been claiming Job Seeker’s for over six months are forced into working for free for companies such as Tesco, WH Smith and McDonald’s.

The government have recently announced that the Community Action Program will be expanded, pushing 1 million people into 6 months of forced unpaid work. This will involve an individual doing 780 hours of community service – over twice as much as the maximum sentence of 300 hours allowed for community service when convicted of breaking…

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