£28 million present for Hampshire schools

Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government have given schools in Hampshire a £28,056,000 Christmas present.

The cash is the result of an increase in the Pupil Premium funding, which targets extra money to schools depending on the number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds they have. Last years funding was £16 million.

The Pupil Premium is a major Liberal Democrat priority that is being delivered by the Coalition Government.

In Hampshire 35,230 pupils are expected to be eligible, meaning that our schools are set to benefit from £28 million funding to support disadvantaged children.

The Pupil Premium covers any primary or secondary school pupil that has been registered for Free School Meals in the past six years. For 2013/14, the Premium will be worth £1.65bn, or £900 per pupil, in total.

I am very pleased to report this grant. Liberal Democrats are building a strong economy and fair society where everyone can get ahead. To do that we need to make sure that children are not held back by poverty and disadvantage. For too long, social background has been a deciding factor in a child’s chances for the future.

I am proud that the Liberal Democrats are helping every child in Andover and across Hampshire to reach their full potential. This money does not just help the poorest children, it helps every child. Fewer children falling behind will mean less disruption in class and a better education for everyone.

Announcing the settlement Liberal Democrat Schools Minister, David Laws said: “We are already seeing across the country how the Pupil Premium is making a difference to children’s lives. Extra tuition, better IT resources and closer work with parents are all examples of how the Pupil Premium is being used to support the most disadvantaged pupils and benefit all their classmates too.”

“That’s why I’m so pleased that, next year, we’ll be extending the Pupil Premium to another half a million children, and increasing the money that schools get to £900 per pupil. This means that, as a result of Liberal Democrats in the Coalition Government, more children will get a better start in life.”

By 2015, it will be worth a total of £2.5bn a year to schools in England. To see how much Andover’s schools are benefiting visit this link

Allotments costs don’t add up

At last week’s Andover Town Council meeting I queried the costs of running the town’s allotments because the fiugres recently published don’t add up.

In a letter to allotment holders the chairman of the town council’s allotment committee outlined the costs of running the allotments at almost £22,000 and to balance the books they have raised rents accordingly.

Until the town council took control of allotments they were run and maintained by Test Valley Borough Council the costs being charged to all residents through the Andover levy. Therefore I must assume TVBC were spending about £22,000 a year of the levy on running the town’s allotments.

When Andover Town Council took control of the allotments there was a reduction in the Andover levy of just £15,661. So what happened to the rest of our money?

If Andover residents have been paying £22,000 per year to TVBC for them to run the allotments then now they are being run by ATC then the Andover levy should be reduced by this amount. For a council that prides itself on prudence and value for money I am surprised that no-one on Andover TC has asked this. or is it that someone can’t add up?

I was also disappointed to hear the chair of the council (who as a non-resident of Andover doesn’t pay the levy) dismissing this as just a small amount of money. I also wonder with so many Test Valley Borough councillors sitting on the town council (many of whom were opposed to the formation of a town council) whether there may be conflicts of interest here. Have these figures been given due attention before the agreement to transfer the allotments was completed?

I have submitted a list of written questions on this and look forward to the council’s response.

Northern Avenue flooding update #2

Several days now without ther road being flooded – at last the highways engineers are getting on top of the problem.

The road was closed overnight Thursday for surveying and repair work. I have been advised by Hampshire Highways that crews worked until 5:00am Friday morning. They managed to clear the upstream section of pipe of roots and silt and complete the camera survey of the cleaned pipes. Unfortunately there was a lot of silt and tree roots in the pipe so they couldn’t clear the downstream section to the River Anton but this is organised for Sunday evening. They should not need to close the road to carry this out.

Northern Avenue flooding update #1

16:45 Monday

I am pleased to report that I have been advised by Hampshire Highways that Northern Avenue was re-opened at 15:15 this afternoon, in time for the evening rush hour. Although heavy rain is forecasted up to 18:00 hours this evening, as the entire system has been pumped clear of water, they are hopeful as they can be that the system will cope this evening and no further flooding will occur.

Further work is planned, including a camera survey tomorrow evening. I have asked that any faults in the drain system are rectified as soon as possible.

Flooding chaos causes road closure

Local residents have been aware for some time that there is a major problem with drainage on Northern Avenue with the entire road being covered with water almost every time it rains. Many people have reported this to Hampshire County Council but the only visible response to date has been for contractors to arrive on Sundays to pump the water away.


Today saw yet another attempt to clear the flood waters. I spent some time watching the work and talking to the contractors after which I emailed a letter to the local county counciillor asking for urgent action to deal with this. You can read my letter here.
Letter to Pam Mutton 25 November

Mrs Mutton has since responded and advised me that Northern Anvenue is to close. I have replied to her and county council officers as follows.

“Dear Pam

Thank you for your prompt action on this matter. It is good to see something is finally being done. However to close the road at short notice may cause major disruptions in the area during Monday morning’s rush hour. Can I have assurances that the road closure will be adequately managed, publicised and signposted so that disruption is kept to a minimum? I am particularly concerned that this closure may lead to traffic jams on the Andover ring road system and rat running through residential streets to avoid the inevitable congestion.
I assume this drastic measure is a consequence of the failure so far to adequately deal with the problem and keep the road open. If so it would be useful for residents to be informed of what measures have been taken so far and what effect these have had on alleviating the problems.
It would also be good, as I said in my letter, to have some indication of what remedial measures are planned to prevent further flooding.
I, and other residents, would also hope to hear as soon as possible how quickly we can expect a satisfactory resolution to this matter.
I look forward to your response.
Regards
Len

Watch this website for further details on this unfolding story.

Andover Trees United

A new seven acre woodland, part of the new Queen Elizabeth Wood Andover, and one of the nation’s 60 Diamond Woods to commemorate the Queen’s Jubilee, is being planted at Augusta Park. The wood is next to the new playing fields on the north east side of the development. Planting and management is being carried out by a local community group, Andover Trees United.

The aim of Andover Trees United is for every young person in the town and surrounding villages, over a ten-year period, to have contributed to the woodland by planting a tree in their school nursery bed and later moving it to the woodland itself. The woodland will be there for schools, young people and the whole of our community to plant, maintain and enjoy.

November 26th to December 7th 2012 is the planting fortnight.

Many helping hands are needed for this and for replenishing the school nursery beds afterwards. Offers of help for half a day or the whole fortnight will all be gratefully received. If you wish to be involved there are a variety of tasks available not necessarily physical.

If you would like to help with the planting or join the team of School Support Gardeners to help by planting up school nursery bed, please contact Wendy Davis at [email protected]

You can find more details of the project at
http://earthrestorationservice.org and http://www.transitiontownandover.org.uk/8.html

Action at Vigo Road

Andover Lib Dem Councillor Nigel Long has worked with local residents to deal with anti-social behaviour at Vigo Road Recreation ground.

Nigel consulted local people and brought their views to the borough council for action. As a result benches will be relocated elsewhere in the park and the hedge/fence will be repaired and trimmed. Trees will be trimmed back to allow the footpath to be properly lit in the evenings. Funding has been found to put a barrier in at the car park.

Acre Path residents’ chairman Peter Steele congratulated Nigel on the work done so far to improve the area. Nigel will continue to work with the residents to ensure any problems in the
area are dealt with quickly and effectively.
Lib Dems working on your side.

What happened to our youth service?

Andover’s residents have been shocked by Conservative run Hampshire County Council’s decision to all but wipe out Youth services, making professional staff redundant in the process. Staggeringly, the Conservatives stashed over £300,000,000 in the County bank while making the cuts!

Under the changes the Council will only provide services for ‘vulnerable’ young people such as those in care. There are many other young people needing support who may not get it at all.

Candy Huxham is Manager of the Handy Trust voluntary Youth Service in Waterside, Hampshire, and is currently Youth Worker of the ye r. Candy has strong reservations about the changes. Candy said, “We already help and advise many vulnerable oungsters in our local community but we don’t come into contact with all of them. They often tell us that there are others who we don’t see who are still in bed or don’t bother. Now there is no Connexions service and no system to account for youngsters like there was.

Unemployment of young people is the highest on record. For many it is a bad time to be young. It is certainly no time for the County Council Conservatives to walk away.

Hampshire County Council is a very large organisation with over £300,000,000 in the County bank. Some of this money should be used as a priority to provide a Youth Service as well as full apprenticeships for our young people. The County are letting down our next generation

Services under threat

Many residents have expressed shock about further library cuts made by Conservative-run Hampshire County Council: this time the axe has fallen on 29 mobile libraries across the County.

This is a bitter blow to the community. Mobile libraries are a lifeline to a lot of people living in rural areas, particularly elderly and disabled residents. I am particularly disappointed to see they have ignored local residents’ views and cut the library service to Enham Alamein.

The Conservatives have designated Andover library a key library but won’t increase opening hours to the target 50 hours for another two years.

Now museums may be under threat as well

Local people have been put on red alert after it emerged that Hampshire Conservatives have put all of the County’s Museums, Arts Centres and Cultural Services under threat of closure. Hampshire County Council plan to handover control of these vital services to a ‘Trust’, meaning local people no longer have a say on how they’re run, and putting them at risk of more funding cuts and even closure.

Working for Pilgrims Way

Local residents in Pilgrims Way have expressed their delight at the work being done in the area to improve the environment.

Lib Dem councillors Katherine Bird and Nigel Long are working with Aster Housing, Test Valley Borough Council and Hampshire County Council to get action for Pilgrims Way.

Many road signs have already been replaced, and the remainder will be changed in the next few years. All the trees on the estate will be surveyed and overgrown trees will be cut back or removed.

Safety has been improved around the electricity substation and the surrounds tidied.

Katherine and Nigel are also seeking funding for an additional footpath along the spine road. “We’ll keep pressing the local Councils to get things done for local residents,” Katherine said.