Peterborough Pwned

08:18 Thursday 9th February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: The debate on the proposed rise in council tax in Peterborough continues to rage. Government Minister Bob Neill has urged the people of this city to lobby the Council over plans to raise council tax by nearly 3%, rather than accept a Government grant which would avoid such a rise. Mr. Neill joins Eric Pickles, the Taxpayers Alliance and MP Stewart Jackson in condemning the proposal from the Council. It’s a topic that’s splitting the Tories nationally .. and locally? Well, here’s Marco Cereste, Leader of Peterborough City Council. Morning sir.
MARCO CERESTE: Hello Paul. How are you.
PAUL STAINTON: I’m alright. Have you got another revolt on your hands here? Continue reading “Peterborough Pwned”

Managing the Collapse

07:30 Wednesday 8th February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Let’s talk business. Apparently we’re spending more of our cash on food Adam Curtley. Well we knew that, didn’t we?
ADAM KIRTLEY: Oh don’t we just. Food inflation has been horrible over the last couple of years hasn’t it? Although actually another piece of information out today says food inflation is down from an annual 4.2% in December to just 3.7% in January and falling quite fast. So that’s good news. Continue reading “Managing the Collapse”

One Head is Better Than None

Although Peterborough Council is in the process of outsourcing most of its functions, including Parks and Refuse (to Enterprise) Arts and Culture (to Vivacity) and Benefits and Payments (to Serco), it seems that Communications is remaining in-house, and apparently growing ever larger.

Peterborough Council has 57 councillors, each with an iPad and therefore a potential Tweeter, a somewhat unknown population hovering between 150,000 and 200,000, and an ever-dwindling direct workforce.

Here is the map of the Communications Team with the latest vacancy at the top of the diagram. Is this a normal sized team? Is this the way things will be in the future? Will councils simply consist of communication experts? Why are the boxes blue? If it was a Labour council, would they be red?  Why aren’t they green? These are all  good questions, crying out for answers.  I don’t have the answers. I don’t believe the current team, the councillors or indeed the Leader know the answers. Maybe the Head of Strategic Communications will provide them.

 

And why don’t they just outsource Comms? Is it because it’s all top secret? And if so, why?

 

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Charles Dickens on Peterborough

07:55 Tuesday 7th February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON BBC: We heard earlier that he had a friend in Wisbech. We’ve got a crystal ball in the Wisbech Museum up there, and a manuscript from Great Expectations. But he’s been to Peterborough as well, hasn’t he?
STUART ORME PETERBOROUGH MUSEUM: He has indeed. . Continue reading “Charles Dickens on Peterborough”

Julie Fernandez on Disabled Access at Peterborough’s Temporary Bus Station

08:22 Monday 6th February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire.

PAUL STAINTON: On Friday’s Show, actress Julie Fernandez highlighted problems with access for disabled people at that temporary bus station behind the Brewery Tap car park. Commuters are catching buses from there, whilst maintenance work is being carried out. We sent Julie Fernandez, a disabled actress, to the Brewery Tap. This is what she had to say. Continue reading “Julie Fernandez on Disabled Access at Peterborough’s Temporary Bus Station”

The NHS – A Patient in Crisis

07:07 Friday 3rd February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

BBC PAUL STAINTON: Patients are having to wait hours in A&E, appointments and operations cancelled, and people being booked to see the wrong consultant. Just some of the horror stories we’ve heard at Peterborough City Hospital. Unions say the problems being faced by hospitals are also down to a lack of money. .. We’ve also heard reports of staff being used from Stamford, brought across to plug a staffing shortfall at PCH. They get there, and then they’re not needed. There’s a lack of communication by the sounds of it.
..
MARY COOKE PETERBOROUGH PENSIONERS’ ASSOCIATION: A slight touch of chaos, I reckon. That’s how nurses would view it. It’s demoralising for staff. That’s no good to anybody. Continue reading “The NHS – A Patient in Crisis”

Andrew Lansley in BBC Ding Dong Over Circle Deal

08:18 Wednesday 1st February 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: NHS history has been made in Cambridgeshire today. Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon has become the first in the country to be run by a private company. Circle are working in partnership with the hospital NHS Trust to provide services, manage staff and repay some of the £40 million debt. Circle are announcing 16 new initiatives this morning proposed by hospital staff to improve patient care, safety and efficiency, they say. Well earlier we spoke to Phil Gooden from Unison, who described the move as a disaster for the NHS, and called for more details to be released. (TAPE)
PHIL GOODEN: On the surface you can’t argue with it. Greater patient experience, greater staff engagement, free telephone service, all this sort of stuff, but what it’s not doing is proposing in any detail how the £40 million is going to be recovered. (LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Well let’s speak to the man in charge of our health service, Cambridgeshire MP and Health Secretary Andrew Lansley. Morning.
ANDREW LANSLEY: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Well how? How are they going to repay this £40 million Andrew, first of all? Continue reading “Andrew Lansley in BBC Ding Dong Over Circle Deal”

Peterborough Council Waste Policy

08:13 Tuesday 31st January 2012
Peterborough Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

RICHARD OLIVE FRIENDS OF THE EARTH: .. listeners who live in Cambridgeshire and Fenland who are aware of what happens to their waste, which goes to an MBT anaerobic digester in Waterbeach. The running costs of that are less than half, actually about 42% of the cost of the Peterborough one. And the construction costs were £30 million. And it’s a much better environmental solution. You would think Peterborough, aiming to be the UK’s Environment Capital, would have gone for the best possible environmental solution. But even the MBT anaerobic digester in Waterbeach isn’t the best. Peterborough could quite easily recycle 78% of its waste.

One other thing you need to be aware of, and I think the people of Peterborough need to be aware of, is that the Council took advice in terms of how to treat their waste, way back in 2006. We had a meeting with them. And their waste adviser was the gentleman who gave his services totally free to the Council. I’ll name him. He was a Mr.Ian Crummack. And he happened to be the manager of the Cyclerval incinerator in Grimsby. So he may have actually persuaded the Council perhaps to go down the incineration route. .. Sol I think the Council have been led in a particular direction.

The best solution, put a lot more money into recycling. As I said, it’s quite easy to up the recycling rate to 78%. The Council is proposing 65% plus. .. The rest of the waste, some of it could actually still be landfilled if necessary. But I think the best solution really would be to build a small plasma enhanced melter .. to process the remaining stuff and turn it into something useful.