I Went to Kettering Borough Council’s Executive Committee last night where I was pleased to hear that following a Labour suggestion earlier in the year (which was dismissed at the time); the Council are now seriously beginning to look at building Council Houses in Kettering. Also pleased that they’ve realised the error of their ways about using a private company to administer their Disabled Facilities Grant on behalf of the Council (installing adaptions in people’s homes etc.) and will now be doing the work themselves, again something that the Labour Group had wanted. According to the report “this resulted in lengthy waiting times and poor customer satisfaction”. I’ve said before that I not opposed in principle to using third-party organisations to provide services, but only if residents get a better deal and time after time these things are pushed through for purely ideological reasons with a blind belief that private is always better and councils should do as little as possible. I see this all the time at the County Council. Last night one of the Executive members made the telling point that this would mean the Council had “better control” over the service. Exactly! I was however concerned to read the report about the Council’s financial position over the next few years and while I realise that government spending cuts are affecting every council in the county, there did seem to be a lack of urgency and almost complacency, despite predictions that the amount they receive from government is likely to be cut by nearly 60% over the next five years and that they are forecasting budget deficits every year until then. I had attended just as a member of the public to observe, and hadn’t intended to speak but felt compelled to speak on the item about the possible disposal of the property on Station Road that used to house The Kettering Centre for the Unemployed. Nine years ago on Christmas Day, despite a massive public campaign, the Council kicked out that organisation of which I was a member of the management committee at the time. I told the executive that this had been a shameful decision that had been nothing more than an attack of the poor and vulnerable in our community and it was equally shameful that the Council had refused KCUs offer of rent which would have earned the council over £200,000 by now.
Posted on: Thu, 16 Oct 2014 06:41:25 +0000
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