After several weeks of silence on my blog due to the rules around pre-election publicity, there’s much to catch up on and I am returning with a round up of news and events.
I am delighted to say that Sarah Pickup, our Director of Health and Community Services, has recently been elected to be the President of The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services (ADASS) for the year 2012/13. ADASS is a prestigious and influential national body which represents local authority directors with responsibility for the social care of older people and adults with disabilities. The organisation works to promote excellence in adult social care and to help shape national policy. As president, Sarah will represent the interests of local authority social care on a national stage – and it couldn’t have happened at a more important time. With an increasingly aging population, questions about how the nation provides the best possible care for older people – and how that care is funded – are hot topics that are frequently debated in the national media. You only have to look back to the Queen’s Speech last week where there was mention of potential legislation on the future funding of adult social care, which although vague at the moment will no doubt remain high on the agenda for years to come.
On another positive note, we are all looking forward to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee weekend, and I know many of you will be celebrating locally with your own street parties. Here in Hertfordshire we look set, once again, to be the street party capital of theUK! Our highways team has processed and agreed around 450 road closures – that’s some 150 more than we had for the royal wedding.
I believe that events like these have never been more important, because they bring people together in what are difficult times for many. Neighbourhoods where people know each other can soon become neighbourhoods which help one another. The stronger communities are, the more they are able to come together to make their local areas into the sorts of places they want to live.
I was very pleased to hear that in a recent government review, the way in which roads in Hertfordshire are maintained was praised. This was part of a national review around potholes, commissioned by the Department of Transport and highlighted Hertfordshire County Council as a best practice example of dealing with potholes. We have long championed a prevention is better than cure approach in respect of highways maintenance and clearly this, along with the statistics, show that this policy is paying off.
It was good to see the BBC mention Hertfordshire’s Local Enterprise Partnership’s (LEP) contribution to a project to boost jobs in the county last week. This is a really positive step and goes a long way to demonstrate why it was imperative to fight for success in our bid to establish a LEP back in 2010. The LEP provides the necessary leadership to Hertfordshire’s diverse, complex and successful local economy and projects such as this contribute to the overall growth of the county. If you’d like to read more, follow this link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-17973767
Worthy of mention is the review carried out by the Police Authority’s Scrutiny Committee, which found that turning off the streetlights between midnight and six in the morning has had no adverse impact on crime figures. The findings covered the six-month period to the end of March and it was concluded that there is no evidence that crime has increased due to the strategy to reduce street lighting – indeed, in Broxbourne, crime between midnight and 6am was down by over 20%. If you are interested in looking at the Hertfordshire Police Authority’s scrutiny papers go to:
http://www.hertspa.org/committees/scrutinycommittee/17192370/
We are planning to carry out a full review of the part night lighting changes in the middle of next year, which will enable us to have time to gather meaningful data from across the whole county. Meanwhile, if you would like further information, take a look at our website: www.hertsdirect.org/streetlights
Alternatively, if you have any comments or thoughts why not respond on my blog.
Slightly more diary focused, I attended the first of three lectures at the University of Hertfordshire last week. The University is celebrating its very own Diamond Jubilee this year – having originally established itself as Hatfield Technical College in 1952. This particular lecture was given by journalist Lord (Peter) Henessey and enabled a lively discussion around the pros and cons of our unwritten constitution.
Later in the week, I had the pleasure of applauding the brave and the conscientious at the annual Police Awards. An occasion enjoyed by all who attended and an ideal opportunity to recognise all the hard work that is carried out throughout the year by the police.
I was delighted to be able to attend the Hertfordshire Diamond Jubilee Service held in the Cathedral and Abbey Church of St Albans on Sunday. As the Jubilee approaches, many events will be taking shape and if you’re looking for something to do involving all the family over the forthcoming Bank Holiday weekend, why not come along to the Hertfordshire County Show at Redbourn. I will be joining some of my colleagues (your local county councillors) to be on hand in the County Council’s tent to chat and answer questions. You will also be able to find out more about some of the wide range of services we oversee including fostering, countryside management, volunteering, protecting the community from ticket scams and counterfeit goods and helping to improve broadband speeds in the county. You’ll also see the excellent entries that we received for our art competition from the very talented pupils of Hertfordshire primary schools. A highlight on Sunday morning will be CC – our very special fire investigation dog and his handler who will be doing demonstrations of how they work together! If you’d like to find out more about the Show, click on the link: http://www.hertsshow.com/
