A visit to Westminster

Yesterday I arranged for representatives from the Sikh community in Wolverhampton to meet with Dominic Grieve and Damian Green. The representatives who spoke yesterday expressed concerns over property issues in India and the lack of a British consulate in Punjab. Such an office would be able to provide invaluable advice to all British citizens  wishing to settle property disputes in India (British Sikhs face currency restrictions once they’ve sold property in India and try to bring funds into the UK).  A very positive day, which was followed up with a tour of the House of Commons and the House of Lords.

 

Paul

A 21st Century NHS

This weekend I was in Nottingham and listening to David Cameron talking about his vision for the NHS in the 21st century. In particular he spoke about putting the “heart and soul” back into the Health Service. Labour have spent a great deal of money on the NHS and we are entitled to ask, where has the money has gone? But before I get too political it’s important to stand back and look at our NHS more objectively. Many people will feel that there is a degree of political opportunism when all politicians talk about the Health service. 

Perhaps the best television I ‘ve seen in recent months was the documentary following Gerry Robinson around a Hospital to see if he could “fix the NHS”. A businessman with decades of experience in management he was convinced that the solutions he required lay with the Staff. He constantly spoke to Clinicians, to consultants and to administrators as “they had the answers to his questions”. At the end of the series he was quite despondent as he felt that the Health service was often “quite rudderless” and afraid to empower its own staff. Is this really very different from what David Cameron is saying?

By giving NHS employees responsibility, power and choice we will surely find solutions. When our political opponents become obsessed with targets, its not because they lack good will its just that the top down approach to politics, to business and to life in general is out of date. The rest of the world has woken up to that fact. In the 21st Century I want to be part of a political process which empowers people at home and at work.

Paul  

Francis Maude’s visit to the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurudwara

 

Francis was in Wolverhampton yesterday and we were honoured to recieve a very enthusiastic reception from the committee members of the Sikh Temple on Sedgley Street. The oldest and largest Gurudwara in Wolverhampton, nearly three thousand families visit the Temple every week. The Committee members were particularly impressed and happy to learn that we have chosen a Sikh candidate to fight the ward of Penn at the next local elections (one of the safest Conservative wards in Wolverhampton). At the end of the afternoon we both faced questions from the committee, who openly expressed the view that it had been an unhealthy relationship for one party to be the recipient of the significant Sikh vote in Wolverhampton. To quote Mr Basra ” David Cameron has opened a door between the Conservative party and the Sikh community and it was good to see that people from both sides were now prepared to walk through that door”. 

 

Paul

DAVID CAMERON IN THE MIDLANDS

David was in Birmingham today, speaking to the Chinese community about social responsibility and the power of individual innovation and ingenuity. As a child of immigrants it’s a message which has always resonated close to my own heart and I am glad to say clearly appealed to many in the wider audience today

Paul 

Savings that really do take the biscuit!

Last night I attended a full council meeting regarding the budget for Wolverhampton City Council. The controlling Labour group proudly announced a 4.9% council tax hike for the year 2007- 2008. Andrew Wynne (Conservative councillor for Tettenhall Wightwick) responded by highlighting that this rise had in fact been capped by Central Government. Without this cap the residents of Wolverhampton could have been looking at perhaps a double digit rise in their Council Tax bills for next year. The council tax for a band D property will be £1348.20 next year and this is the 10th consecutive rise in council tax which is above inflation. To make matters worse in order to balance the budget the controlling labour group are cutting front line services in respect of the social services budget.

Councillor wynne also pointed out that the Council had spent over £4,300,000 on consultancy fees and currently maintained a ratio of 1 Human Resource officer to every 40 employees working for Labour controlled Wolverhampton Council. Not content with cutting front line services councillor Bradley (Conservative for Penn Ward) highlighted the fact that the council had also introduced savings of £ 2,000 by slashing the biscuit budget! All of this of course has arisen because central government has restricted the revenue support grant to a growth of 2% this year(which contrasts sharply with adjacent Conservative Councils), which begs the questions does this Labour Government trust this Labour council to spend your money wisely? 

Paul

A strong sense of community

I attended a meeting last night regarding the future of the Shoulder of Mutton (a public house in Tettenhall wood). The pub occupies a three acre site and the concern within the local community is that the Pub will be demolished and replaced with residential units. Over a hundred people attended the meeting last night and spoke passionately about the need to maintain a community pub and about the fact that the site provides an invaluable resource in terms of parking. I was struck by the fact that is a genuinely beautiful pub, quite modern from the outside and yet rustic and charming when you step inside. The atmosphere at the meeting and in the pub afterwards was fantastic and it was quite interesting to see so many people adopting a stance of social responsibility in terms of where they live and in relation to their neighbours. 

It was a great pity that the Landlords (Marstons) weren’t there to gauge public feeling or to provide any assurances to the residents of Tettenhall wood. I will be actively involved in the campaign to keep the Shoulder of Mutton open, so watch this space …..

 Paul    

Wet and Windy in Whitmore Reans

On Monday night I attended a meeting which had been organised by Whitmore Reans In Partnership (WRIP). The principal activity of the organisation is to promote any charitable purposes for the benefit of the local community, specifically the advancement of education and the relief of poverty and sickness. The organisation also supports the establishment and development of local community organisations. Meetings are open to the general public and I was surprised to learn that the organisation was changing its own structure and turning WRIP into a dormant company because of the poor attendance of directors at these meetings. A quorum of directors is required to make any purposeful resolutions and this appeared to be a rarity.

Obviously the aims of the organisation are noble and laudable but the reality appears to be very different. During my time as your PPC I will always maintain a common sense approach to all organisations asking them:

1. What are the main objectives of the organisation?

2. Do they think they are achieving their objectives?

3. Are they achieving their objectives?

4. Are they spending our money as wisely as they would spend the money in their own pockets?

Paul