Tag: Cambridge City Council

The prosecution of beggars in Cambridge

07:20 Wednesday 3rd December 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: How are you this morning? I hope that all is going well in your world. Now there’s been a reported rise in the number of beggars facing prosecution in Cambridgeshire. There were 80 prosecutions last year, compared with 45 the year before. That’s according to a Freedom of Information request of the Central Prosecution Service. We’ll speak to the manager of a Cambridge homeless shelter shortly about what could be driving this rise, but first of all Sue Marchant’s been out into Cambridge to find out more.
(TAPE)
SUE MARCHANT: I’ve come to Fitzroy Street in Cambridge, which is just outside the Grafton Centre. I would imagine quite a busy thoroughfare for anybody who wants to find some money from somewhere, if they are begging. Let’s ask one of the traders here. Excuse me, are there usually beggars along this part of the road?
TRADER: Quite frequently they are, yes. They go up and down the street quite a few times a day. You often see about ten or twelve a day.
SUE MARCHANT: What about recently, say in the last month or so?
TRADER: In the last week I’ve only seen about one, if any at that.
SUE MARCHANT: I did manage to find someone to talk to on the streets of Cambridge to talk about their experience of begging. Have you ever busked,  or been apprehended?
PERSON: Yes I busk more or less nearly every day. I just get money for my food, rent, (INCOHERENT) I actually depend on the generosity of the public give me some money.
SUE MARCHANT: So you tend to busk rather than stand out there begging.
PERSON: Oh no I don’t beg. No no no.
SUE MARCHANT: Have you ever been persecuted at all for busking?
PERSON: Yes. Three times this year I’ve been done for begging. Yes.
SUE MARCHANT: What happened?
PERSON: When I’m sitting busking people come and talk to me. The police has probably seen me talking to someone and they think I’m begging. They showed their card, and I got a letter through the post saying I’d been charged for begging. I’ve tried to pull the police back and say to them look, these people here, I’m only talking to them. I wasn’t asking them for money or nothing yeah? Sometimes when I’m feeling cold and fed up I probably will say to them just a slight chance I might go and (UNCLEAR).
SUE MARCHANT: Have you noticed an increase on police surveillance?
PERSON: I don’t see much police going about. The plain clothes obviously for shoplifters and that they’re still here. Yes.
SUE MARCHANT: Did you have to pay a fine for your begging when you say you were done? How much was that?
PERSON: £50. Last time it was £60 fine and £30 costs.
SUE MARCHANT: How does it make you feel?
PERSON: It’s like being back in the Oliver Twist days. Please sir can I have some more. If I get a target, I need to make a day about £20 or £5 or £4. And once I get that target that’s me gone.
SUE MARCHANT: How long have you been in Cambridge?
PERSON: I’ve been in Cambridge for a number of years now, of and on. If it wasn’t for my friends here, homeless people and people like that, I don’t think I’d be on this earth to be honest with you.
SUE MARCHANT: Have you ever been prosecuted for begging?
PERSON 2: Not so much prosecuted, but once I was trying to settle into a place of mine and I had a couple of stimulant drinks. I don’t think I was on my medicine really. I was outside and I was just picking up some butts, you know, off the floor, just so I could do a roll-up. I asked a couple of people if they had the odd 20p and that. And suddenly this guy’s come down on me like a ton of bricks. I weren’t ready to know that I would get in trouble for such a little thing.
(LIVE)
DOTTY MCLEOD: That’s Sue Marchant reporting in Cambridge. Let’s talk to James Martin. He’s the Service Manager at Wintercomfort, which is a homeless shelter in Cambridge. Now of course James we’re not saying that all people who use your shelter will try begging on the street but presumably it’s fair to say that there is some crossover there.
Continue reading “The prosecution of beggars in Cambridge”

Icelandic bank debt – Cambridge City Council recovers a very high percentage of the original sum

07:27 Thursday 27th November 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: Nearly £5 million has been restored to the coffers of Cambridge City Council. It’s part of the £9 million that was lost in the collapse of the Icelandic banks in October 2008. The City Council has been working over the past six years to get it back, and has now sold part of the debt. Lewis Herbert is the Labour Leader of Cambridge City Council. So Lewis, explain exactly how this deal has worked to get the money back.
LEWIS HERBERT: Well we’ve been working hard to get money back from the £9 million as you say. 2008, invested because it was getting a high interest rate, an over-big risk by the then council, because that was a large proportion of our reserves. Two halves: half of it is in England, half of it is in Iceland. Increasing risks in Iceland, and all of the local authorities nearly, and all of the Dutch local authorities have basically been doing a deal whereby people who want Icelandic krona, we’ve got very little use for them, and want to have this particular financial opportunity to recover the money themselves, want to pay us a reasonable amount of money for that. So basically they pay us a very high percentage of our original sum, including for the interest that was due on this money, and we get the money back. And then we can invest it much better, because this money basically Dotty has been frozen for six years. In that period of time that money should have returned 40% or 50% return on top of the £9 million.
DOTTY MCLEOD: So why is it that you can’t get back all of the money?
Continue reading “Icelandic bank debt – Cambridge City Council recovers a very high percentage of the original sum”

Spare room subsidy debate at BBC Cambridgeshire

09:22 Friday 7th November 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: We’re asking this morning is it time to scrap the so-called bedroom tax. Figures from Cambridge City Council reveal that one in five people in the city have fallen behind with their rent. Only 5% of people have actually managed to downsize their accommodation. And it’s not just in Cambridge. Sally Chicken is from the Rainbow Saver Credit Union in Peterborough. They’ve seen similar problems in the north of the county too.
(TAPE)
SALLY CHICKEN: Well what we’ve seen is members coming in trying to make ends meet because they’ve had their housing benefit cut. And then they’re either not able to move into a smaller property, or there just isn’t a smaller property available for them to move into.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: Sally also agrees with Rob who we spoke to, Rob Nixon, a few moments ago. She says it’s been a huge problem, the spare room subsidy, for the disabled.
(TAPE)
SALLY CHICKEN: Especially for disabled people. I don’t know if you know, but if a disabled couple are both disabled, they are still only entitled to a one bedroomed property. And we’ve had several members who have been just devastated because they can’t physical share a bedroom because of the disability, still being told they are not entitled to a two bedroomed property.
(LIVE) ..
PAUL STAINTON: So should one of the Coalition’s most controversial policies be scrapped? We’ve invited three councillors from across the county and the political spectrum. In the blue corner, representing the Conservatives, councillor Mark Howell, Cabinet member for Housing on South Cambridgeshire District Council. Morning.
MARK HOWELL: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: In the red corner from the Labour party, Peterborough Parliamentary Candidate and city councillor Lisa Forbes. Lisa, morning.
LISA FORBES: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: And in the yellow corner for the LibDems, Deputy Group Leader of the Cambridge LibDems Catherine Smart. Catherine, morning.
CATHERINE SMART: Good morning.
PAUL STAINTON: Mark I’m going to start with you, because this is essentially a Conservative policy, isn’t it. Is it right, is it fair, is it just, or should it be scrapped?
Continue reading “Spare room subsidy debate at BBC Cambridgeshire”

Cambridge Live seeks to appoint trustees

17:53 Monday 27th October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PETER SWAN: Now we’re going to talk about Cambridge Live, the new organisation that’s going to run City Council’s cultural events and services. It’s a not-for-profit organisation. It’s going to run cultural venues and events like the Cambridge Folk Festival as well. Sara Garnham is the Founding Chair of Cambridge Live and joins us on the show now. So I guess we ought to start with: what was the system that Cambridge Live has replaced?
SARA GARNHAM: Peter, Cambridge Live has replaced services that were directly provided by Cambridge City Council. With the budget cuts at the moment, the Council were very concerned that their excellent provision, which includes everything from free events like the Fireworks next week through to international events like the Folk Festival, and then lots of things at the Corn Exchange and the Guildhall, were going to come under pressure, because obviously there were lots of calls on their money these days. And they wanted to make sure that there was a sustainable future for all of that development. The team delivered the amazing Tour de France weekend this year. They do the Big Weekend Out, tea dances in the Guildhall, lots and lots of ways that 300,000 get involved with events in the course of the year. And it was very important to them that that carried on.
PETER SWAN: And Cambridge Live is seen as the best possible way of making use of the resources that you’ve got?
Continue reading “Cambridge Live seeks to appoint trustees”

Cambridgeshire waste merger has union support

08:20 Friday 17th October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: There are plans for a shared bin collection service for Cambridge and the surrounding South Cambridgeshire villages. Councillors have been told that annual savings of around £350,000 could be achieved in the next twelve months by sharing services, increasing to around £700,000 within three years. That saving would be shared between South Cambridgeshire District and Cambridge City Councils. Mick Martin is the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at South Cambridgeshire District Council. Mick, what stage are we at? Has this been decided yet?
MICK MARTIN: No it hasn’t. And I say no it hasn’t hesitatingly. The situation is that South Cambs Cabinet reviewed the proposal yesterday evening and unanimously agreed to move forward with it. But the City Council doesn’t have their review meeting until 5 o’clock this evening.
DOTTY MCLEOD: OK. So it’s still in the pipeline at the moment. The main question for anyone living in either of these areas of Cambridgeshire is what is this going to mean for my bin.
MICK MARTIN: Your bin will be as wonderfully cared for as it has been up until now. The two founding principles of the process that we’re going through are first of all to reduce the operational costs, particularly in the area of premises management administration and fleet and equipment costs.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Is it going to mean fewer binmen? Are we going to see job losses?
Continue reading “Cambridgeshire waste merger has union support”

Cambridgeshire councils share more services

17:15 Thursday 2nd October 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: Another of our big stories, an ongoing story actually, one that we discuss regularly: three Cambridgeshire councils have announced the next steps towards sharing services. South Cambs, Cambridge City and Huntingdonshire save hundreds of thousands of pounds by pooling their I.T. and legal provision. So, is this just the first step towards a Greater Cambridge unitary authority? Let’s find out. The men in charge are with me. Cllr Ray Manning, the Leader of South Cambs District Council, a Conservative of course. Ray, hello.
RAY MANNING: Hello there.
CHRIS MANN: Welcome. And how long have you been running the Council?
RAY MANNING: The Conservatives, since 2006.
CHRIS MANN: And how long have you had to start making cutbacks since? When did that .. ?
RAY MANNING: About 1896 I think.
CHRIS MANN: Yes. It’s that long. (LAUGHS)
RAY MANNING: Yes. I can’t ever remember a budget that wasn’t a reduction.
CHRIS MANN: And right now the demands on you are .. ? How much do you have to lose in the next few years?
RAY MANNING: We’ve got to save another million.
CHRIS MANN: Out of a budget of .. ?
RAY MANNING: Sixteen.
CHRIS MANN: Also with us is Cllr Jason Ablewhite. Hello Jason.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Good evening Chris.
CHRIS MANN: The Executive Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council, another Conservative controlled authority of course. Give us the picture as far as you’re concerned.
JASON ABLEWHITE: Financially or politically? Politically obviously we’ve been Conservative since 1976, so quite considerable longer than South Cambs. (LAUGHS) But we’re in exactly the same boat as everyone else. We need to save multiples of millions of pounds over the next five years, and we’re looking at new ways of working and new initiatives, and that’s why what we’re saying today is so important.
CHRIS MANN: And you’ve taken some tough measures already. You’ve had to let people go, look at services.
JASON ABLEWHITE: We have yes, like everyone else in local government. It’s been tough. The last five years, frankly, has been tough in local government, and we’ve seen a considerable reduction in our staff.
CHRIS MANN: Third member on the panel is Cllr Lewis Herbert, who became Leader of Cambridge City Council when Labour took control after the elections earlier this year. Hello Lewis.
LEWIS HERBERT: Hi.
CHRIS MANN: You inherited some problems, not unique to your council, but give us an idea of what Cambridge City have got to cut.
Continue reading “Cambridgeshire councils share more services”

Lewis Herbert Cambridge City Council on Coalition cuts, bankruptcy and council borrowing

09:39 Tuesday 23rd September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Marion’s been on. Morning Marion. She says, “Paul, some of the managers in the NHS just need to go. There are so many of them now. Surely money can be saved in that way. No way should the NHS be means-tested.” But how do we find this £30 billion? When do we stop pouring money in and find a different way? Or should we? Or should the Government just direct money from somewhere else? Julian says, “There’s a substantial waste of financial resources inside the NHS, and a culture of only selecting candidates for the top jobs from people already working within the system.” says Julian this morning. ” How on earth are they going to get new blood in the system? It really needs a shake-up from the top downwards, and rooting out dead men’s shoes, automatic promotions. Let’s face it, Marco Cereste was in charge of our patch at one time and that didn’t work either.” says Julian this morning. Keep your comments coming in on the NHS. How do we work it out? How do we find a way to fund it properly? And talking of funding, it seems to be the in thing at the moment for local authorities to mention bankruptcy when talking about their dire financial situations. Indeed, the much-mentioned Marco Cereste told me that the Peterborough City Council was looking at every area of finance in order to avoid bankruptcy, and that his staff are selling their expertise just to try and balance the books.
(TAPE)
MARCO CERESTE: It’s the money that worries me. And we’ve done a lot of things in the city to train our staff, so that we can sell their expertise. We’re not only just saving money in the Council, we’re actually selling the Council’s expertise. We’re doing this where lots of other cities don’t really know where to start. And so that’s doing really really well. I wish we’d have started earlier. I wish we’d have had this drive earlier. But we didn’t, and we are where we are.
(LIVE)
PAUL STAINTON: That’s the Leader of Peterborough City Council, Marco Cereste. They’ve got a £22 million budget shortfall. Cambridgeshire needs to save £150 million. And Cambridge itself needs to save £30 million over the next five years. Well the Local Government Association says local government is nearing crisis point. So what would happen if a local authority actually went bankrupt? Would assets be seized? Would dustbin lorries be carted off – the street sweeper? What would happen to our services? Well let’s talk to Cambridge City Council Leader Lewis Herbert. Lewis, good morning.
LEWIS HERBERT: Good morning Paul.
PAUL STAINTON: Are local councils just scare-mongering? Are you scare-mongering a bit?
LEWIS HERBERT: We’re certainly not. We haven’t said we’re going to go bankrupt. Our job is to work for residents and to make sure that we deliver quality services. We’re not a poor city, but as you’ve introduced, we have to save £6 million a year by 2020, and that’s about a quarter of our budget, and that’s after we’ve taken all the easy wins and cut our spending in line with the Government’s spending cut of 30% in the last few years.
PAUL STAINTON: Yes, it’s a lot of money, isn’t it? You can understand then why some councils are using the B-word. But equally, financial experts we’ve spoken to say local authorities could never go bankrupt.
LEWIS HERBERT: Well they have in America, and they have in other places. It is possible.
PAUL STAINTON: Would the Government not just step in?
Continue reading “Lewis Herbert Cambridge City Council on Coalition cuts, bankruptcy and council borrowing”

South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Local Plans go to Inspector

07:07 Thursday 11th September 2014
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

DOTTY MCLEOD: An independent Government inspector will outline today how she’ll access plans to build 33,000 new homes in and around Cambridge by 2031. The South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Local Plan includes a new town north of Waterbeach, a new village at Bourn Airfield, and a major extension to Cambourne, as well of course as the massive Northstowe development. It also continued development of the area around Cambridge railway station, and sites on the edge of the city. The Inspector, Miss Laura Graham, will set the scene for how a series of hearings over the coming months will be carried out. The homes are part of a plan that it’s hoped will create 44,000 jobs in the area. Well Robert Turner is the Cabinet Member for Planning on South Cambridgeshire District Council. Robert, remind us what is in the Local Plan for Cambridgeshire. What are the keynotes of the Plan for the district?
ROBERT TURNER: Well first of all good morning to you and to your viewers. Well this is an exciting time for us here in South Cambridgeshire. We are trying to create 22,000 jobs within South Cambridgeshire, 19,000 new homes which will be going forward. Like you said in your earlier report, a Miss Laura Graham has been appointed as the Inspector, who will be carrying out the pre-hearing meetings today at two o’clock in the Guildhall. We’re looking forward to the start date, which will be hopefully confirmed some time for the middle of October.
DOTTY MCLEOD: Robert, what happens if Miss Laura Graham comes along, and she doesn’t like what you have put in front of her?
Continue reading “South Cambridgeshire and Cambridge Local Plans go to Inspector”