General Election called

A really exciting day for me yesterday with the General Election being called. This is the first time I've stood for Parliament and however much you prepare for it when the day arrives I'd defy anyone to feel some trepidation - even old timers. All very exciting though and I'm very much up for the fight. We were delighted to get a visit from South East MEP Sharon Bowles. I helped Sharon and her colleague Catherine Bearder during the European Parliament Election campaign last year and it was great to have her support for our campaign in Reading West.

First stop was a visit to Reading Buses to meet with Chief Exec Officer James Freeman to find out more about the company's efforts to go green following the Bio-Ethanol debacle last year. Sharon and I were impressed by the company's plans to pilot electric buses due to come on stream later this year. Government policy both locally, nationally and at a European level needs to be more joined up to encourage companies not penalise them for using green fuels. I also raised the need for cheaper bus fairs for young people - something MYP Josh Harsant and Reading's Youth Cabinet have identified as the number one issue for young people in Reading.

Next up was a quick interview with BBC South's Joe Campbell on Cranbury Road in Battle ward - once a Labour heartland. A nice surprise was bumping into one of my local Twitter followers and her cute baby. I also had a brief chat with Labour Candidate Naz Sarkar who was also in the area too before we whizzed off for a walkabout around Tilehurst Triangle with Tilehurst Lib Dem councillor Peter Beard.

We called in on the Village Butcher and the Wool Shop and stopped in for a cup of tea and a chat with locals in The Link Community Cafe - a great community facility run by a really committed bunch of local volunteers. The Conservative Candidate Alok Sharma and his team were out in the Triangle also making the most of the lovely sunny weather - ideal for campaigning after weeks of rain. We thanked Sharon and her team and waved them off to her next stop - Maidenhead. My team and I then managed to squeeze in a quick pit stop before heading off to the heart of Southcote to deliver campaign literature to residents. There were plenty of Labour posters but barely any activists out and about. After that I went to down to Whitley to campaign with our excellent local candidate for Whitley in the upcoming local election Roy Haines. We spoke to a number of residents who were fed up with Labour but unconvinced by what they had seen of the Conservatives. Several said they were planning to vote Lib Dem this time and were very positive about Vince Cable and my record of campaigning locally. All in all a great day and an excellent start to our campaign.

Scrutiny of Reading's new NHS "Walk In" Centre

As Chair of Reading Borough Council's main health overview & scrutiny committee - the Housing, Health and Community Care Scrutiny Panel since 2008 I have taken a keen interest in improving public access to good quality health services. Poor health in Reading is closely linked to real poverty and sadly many people lack health facilities on their doorstep and families find it difficult to get appointments to see GPs etc at times that suit them without going a long distance. I have been campaigning for a couple of years now on the need to get action taken to reduce health inequality in Reading - which was recently revealed to be the worst in Berkshire by independent inspectors. All the evidence shows that improving health outcomes is closely linked to improving access to free healthcare and good quality medical advice.
Residents in my ward in Redlands are lucky as most of them live quite close to the excellent Royal Berkshire Hospital. However, I have been concerned for some time about residents who live in parts of South and West Reading who are not so lucky.
The NHS Walk In Centre which was set up last year in Broad Street Mall in the Town Centre was set up in an attempt to address this gap in provision. The idea is simple - you don't need to be registered or to have an appointment to get treatment or advice. It sounds great as a concept but I have to admit I was a bit sceptical when the idea was first mooted as I was concerned it would be a 'polyclinic' and could post a threat to existing GP services. However, the feedback I have received from the PCT so far has been very positive. As Chair of the HHCC Panel I requested a report be presented to councillors on Thursday 11 March to review the impact of Reading's NHS Walk In Centre . We will be quizzing Berkshire West PCT, commissioners of the new service to find out whether or not the new service is doing what it was set up to do: improve access to NHS services to the highly-mobile population of residents living, working and shopping (!) in the Town Centre and improve public health.
Have you used this new service? If so, we'd love to hear from you about your experience. Please drop me an email daisy.benson@reading.gov.uk The meeting is kicking off at 6.30pm in the Kennet Room at the Civic Centre. The meeting is open the the public and if you would like to ask a question to the PCT about the service you can please get in touch.
Sadly two other health projects that could help improve access to services have still not come to fruition - in Whitley and Battle. The PCT has long identified other parts of Reading including Whitley need additional services to meet growing demand in the community. Residents living in and around Oxford Road are still waiting for the new Battle Health Centre to be developed - something Reading West Martin Salter MP and Battle councillor Tony Jones campaigned for all those years ago. It was supposed to be built in 2009. Back in 2004, Martin Salter said:"Local doctors' surgeries are pretty full around here and there is a need for more NHS dentists as well as a range of specialist services that can be delivered locally without people having to trek across town to the Royal Berks," he said. "It is great news that Reading PCT has identified the Battle site for a local centre." I agree with Martin - delivering services locally is what's needed - it reduces the need to travel and ensures everyone gets fair access to those services. The major fly on the ointment as far as this scheme is concerned is that it can only be built when the housing on the former Battle Hospital site is sold. The recession is basically to blame. This is a great shame. A lot of local residents must be feeling very disappointed about this after all the promises from Labour both locally and nationally. It must be disappointing for Martin Salter too that the Centre won't be built during his time in Parliament as Member for Reading West after his campaigning on this issue. I will continue to campaign for better access to healthcare for all Reading residents irrespective of where they live, and continue to press the PCT and the Council at every opportunity to speed things up on the ground.

UPDATE

The PCT has supplied us with a written report on the NHS Walk In centre which we will be discussing at the scrutiny panel on Thursday. Some interesting facts from the report:

• Between August 2009 and February 2010 13,778 patients had consultations at the new centre
• 59% of those patients live within Reading
• Patients attending are mainly indicating convenience is the reason they visited the centre
• The top four medical issues presenting are: upper respiratory infection, medication and skin infections and contraception
• 78% of patients attending are aged between 16 and 65
• 95% of patients are seen within 30 minutes
• 90% of patients are reporting satisfaction with the service

Labour failing to use powers that would help keep parks clean

A few weeks ago I blogged about my support for the campaign led by local resident Tom Lendrum to get Labour-run Reading Borough Council to take action to deal with the problem of dog fouling - a major issue for residents living in Whitley and I have no doubt, other parts of Reading. I tabled a question to this week's full Council meeting on this issue -

"What is the Council doing to tackle the problem of dog fouling in the Borough, and how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for this offence by ward?" Note: my ward colleague Cllr Kirsten Bayes tabled the same question around the same time last year.

In order to prosecute people who allow their dogs to foul public places councils must first introduce 'Dog Control Orders'. DCOs were introduced in 2005 via the Clean Neighbourhod and Environment Act. Fixed penalty notices can then be issued in areas covered by these orders such as public parks and roads. The Labour Lead Member for the Environment, Cllr Paul Gittings confirmed in his written response to my question that since the Act came into force five years ago Labour-run Reading Borough Council has not introduced a single Dog Control Order anywhere in the Borough and as a result no fixed penalty issues have been issued for dog fouling. Cllr Gittings told me that 'dog owners are encouraged to clear up dog waste' via poop scoop signs which have been put up on lampposts to raise awareness. Encouragement is clearly not working as there is no threat of enforcement if they don't. It's pretty obvious you need to use a carrot and stick approach!
The written answer from Cllr Gittings says that the previous Dogs [Fouling of Land] Act 1996 (which made it an offence for persons who fail to clear up after their dog and gave RBC the power to issue fines of £25) but the administration didn't issue any due to 'health and safety concerns for officers and the requirement to return any monies collected to the Department of the Environment'?! This is ironic given the health hazard dog waste poses the public.
As I pointed out in my previous post on this issue dog fouling was recently identified in a survey carried out by RBC as the number one issue for residents living in South Reading. And it's not the first time the Lib Dems have raised it! It's time Labour politicians in Reading started taking this issue seriously. I have requested that the Environment Scrutiny Panel investigates this issue at the next available opportunity.I hope it will recommend to the administration of RBC that action is taken soon to introduce DCOs and go further towards making our pavements and parks more pleasant places for local people to use.

Home Access: another gimmick from Labour?

Today Labour-run Reading Borough Council Council issued a press release urging low-income families without a computer to apply for a grant to buy one. According the PR, the government's Home Access grant "will provide grants for 270,000 low income families across the country to have their own computer and Internet access."

The packages available to local families who apply are as follows:
1. Full package (a computer, one year's internet access, service and support)
2. A computer with service and support only
3. One year's internet access only

The Council is encouraging lower income families whose children are not on free school meals can call the 0118 939 0900 0118 939 0900, extension 74285, to see if they could qualify for free school meals and if this was the case they would also be eligible to apply for a computer.

People can also ring the Home Access local rate helpline on 0333 200 1004 0333 200 1004 to find out the full criteria for qualifying.

If you think this applies to you or someone in your family please do call the Council. I really hope it helps local families.

This initiative sounds great doesn't it? Too good to be true?

I've been campaigning to highlight the problem of "digital exclusion" in parts of Reading recently. Put simply, the sad fact is thousands of families and individuals in deprived neighbourhoods in Reading don't have a computer, let alone access to the Internet - because they can't afford one. This leaves them without access to services and opportunities other better-off people take for granted - as these days many things are geared to people who are online. This is bad news - particularly for children, because the evidence shows that children with access to computers also do better at school.

I haven't campaigned on this issue because my Party told me to: I'm doing it because I care about the fact that thousands of people in Reading are living in poverty and they are excluded from opportunities in their area whether it be jobs or education. When I knock on the door and talk to people in Whitley for example, I find many households where people do not own a computer - so they can't use email and the kids can't do homework at home, for example. This isn't fair when thousands of other families are able to do this.

I can't remember exactly when he said it, but I remember vividly Tony Blair saying in a speech to a Labour party conference early in his premiership that he had a vision of seeing everyone in the UK online. 13 years since Labour first came to power we are still a long way away from that vision.

On the face of it the government's scheme sounds brilliant - free computers: what's not to like? But, when I looked into it more closely I found:

• The grant for families is a one off - and for one year only (what happens then? does the internet get cut off?)
• Only families with children receiving free school meals are eligible for the grant (so those on or above the poverty line who might still not be able to afford computers lose out)

This plan seems like a bit of a gimmick to me- a sticking -plaster solution designed to grab headlines rather than actually solve the problem of digital exclusion. What about families that don't qualify but who need support? How will it help families and children in the longer term? How will a hand-out help families and children escape real poverty?What will happen when the money runs out?

Coming this close to a General Election I can't help but wonder this is yet another attempt by Labour to try win votes from working-class voters rather than actually getting to the root of the problem. This is a shame, because if it was part of a wider package of measures to help families and a genuine attempt to tackle digital exclusion I would be very much in favour of it.

Nick Clegg has made helping the poorest children perform to the best of their ability his top priority in the coming election. Labour have had years to help improve equality of opportunity in this country but all the signs are despite millions of pounds of our money being spent on education under a Labour government the poorest kids are still lagging behind. This isn't fair and it's not right.

It is Lib Dem Policy to give every child a fair start: Liberal Democrats will spend an extra £2.5bn on schools. The money will be targeted at schools taking on children who need more help, but will benefit every child in every school. The cash can be used to cut class sizes and provide one-to-one tuition or catch-up classes, ensuring every child gets the individual attention they need. An average primary school could cut class sizes to 20. An average secondary school could see classes of just 16.

See Nick discuss our policy a couple of weeks ago here:

Campaigning for a cleaner, greener Whitley

This afternoon local campaigner Roy Haines and I went to meet to Tom Lendrum, Whitley resident and Chair of the South Whitley Neighbourhood Action Group. I know Tom through my role as Chair of the South Reading Safer Community Forum which deals with crime and anti-social behaviour issues.

Tom wrote to me recently as he is totally fed up with the amount of dog mess in Whitley - on pavements and in green spaces. and he's also fed up with the apparent lack of action by Labour-run Reading Borough Council on this issue.

And he's not the only person in Whitley who is annoyed about this: last year the Council carried out a survey of South Reading residents and dog fouling came out as the number one issue! So why hasn't the Council done anything about this problem? Let's be clear about this: allowing a dog to foul in a public place is illegal. Most people know it's illegal but the lack of enforcement gives people the impression they will get away this - and the reality is they probably will.

And Council do have powers to take action on this issue - under the Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 which came into force few years ago. These include the power to issue fixed penalty notices. Sadly figures released by the Keep Britain Tidy campaign last week found that across the UK dog fouling that was previously in decline has risen back to 2005/6 levels - which begs the question is this legislation (brought in by Labour) working?

Tom is involved in the Neighbourhood Watch scheme on Heroes Walk. You get a good view of the local park from his house. "42 dog walkers use this park every day" he told me. He sees them arriving - some use the dog waste bins provided by the Council, but many do not. We joined him for a walk around the park.The additional bins have helped (as they have helped in Cintra Park where I have been campaigning for action), but the lack of enforcement action overall means that the park is still dirty as many owners fail to clean up after their pets.

Last year, Tom got so frustrated at the amount of mess in his neighbourhood he wrote to all 47 Reading Borough councillors individually. He told me he got less than ten replies (and none at all from the Conservative councillors). My colleague Cllr Kirsten Bayes responded to Tom at the time on behalf of the Lib Dem Group. I dug out her response and read it again today:

"Dog fouling is clearly a significant issue in the Borough. Over the last couple of months, I have raised this concern twice with the Council on behalf of residents, once regarding a pathway to Cintra Park, and also regarding pathways on the Hexham Estate (these being in the Redlands Ward which I represent).

My colleagues Cllr Benson and Goodall have also raised similar concerns, in particular regarding Cintra Park - Cllr Benson has been campaigning for some time on this issue. As well as being unsanitary and unhealthy, dog fouling also serves to make pathways and open areas unusable, which especially affects children, the elderly and people with movement difficulties. We have been campaigning to keep all footways clean and clear of obstructions, and regularly survey residents to find out where problem areas exist."

Kirsten followed up her response with a question to Council. At the March meeting of the Council last year she asked the Lead Member for the Environment:

"What is the Council doing to tackle the problem of dog fouling in the Borough, and how many fixed penalty notices have been issued for this offence?"

The reply Kirsten received revealed that only ONE fixed pentalty notice had been issued by the Council since it first had the power to fine offenders.

I am not calling on the Council to suddenly start fining people but it's time the Council made it clear to the public that they took this problem seriousl. For example they could increase dog warden patrols in South Reading, monitor dog fouling levels and install additional bins etc. Fines should be a last resort but they do need to be used sometimes to get the message across that this is a crime. I have tabled the same question to Council that Kirsten asked last year to be answered at our next meeting to find out what Labour are doing about this problem. If this is the number one issue for people living in South Reading why is Labour ignoring it? I think local people deserve a proper answer.From Tom's point of view and it seems from the point of view of the vast majority of people who responded to the recent South Reading survey last year the problem of dog fouling in Reading is a real one and it is getting worse. And they don't think Labour think it is a priority.

Dog fouling might seem like a minor issue but it has a big impact on how people feel about their neighbourhood and by extension their quality of life. It's one of those things like litter, graffiti and fly-tipping that make neighbourhoods feel rundown and depressing: so it should matter to politicians!It's about time the Labour councillors running Reading Borough Council listened to local people like Tom Lendrum and did something about this problem: enough is enough!

I built my reputation as a local councillor by campaigning for a cleaner and greener Redlands. Visit my blog for more details of my campaigns in this area. As Reading West PPC for the Lib Dems I will make it my business to campaign for cleaner and greener neighbourhoods across Reading West constituency for the benefit of residents. As part of this, I have signed up as a supporter of the Keep Britain Tidy Campaign - you can here. And If you live in Whitley or any other part of Reading West and you have concerns about the cleanliness of your neighbourhood Roy and I would like to hear from you. Please get in touch!

Nick Clegg unveils bold plans to tackle empty homes

Great news today: Nick Clegg, Vince Cable and Sarah Teather have set out radical new plans to reduce the number of empty homes in the UK.

Nick has set out plans which will help bring thousands of empty homes back into use (providing more homes for people that need them).

These plans will also help create around 65,000 new jobs.

What a great idea!

David Ireland, Chief Executive of the Empty Homes Agency, the charity which is leading the national campaign for action on this issue responded to the news as follows:

"This bold policy would transform the scale of England’s empty homes crisis, enabling a very significant proportion to become affordable homes for people.” He added, “This sends out a challenge to the government and other opposition parties to say how they would help create more homes from England’s empty property.”

This is an issue really close to my heart.

People who know me will know that I have been campaigning on this issue since 2006 in Reading.

I led a successful campaign to get Labour-run Reading Borough Council to take action to bring homes back into use.

As a result of our campaign the Council now has an empty homes strategy and RBC issued a press release today which revealed that homes in Whitley, Norcot and Caversham have all been renovated and sold to become family homes as a result.

There is a long way to go in Reading but the Lib Dem plans set out today would help reduce the number of empty homes much more quickly.

You can visit my Redlands blog for more details on our local empty homes campaign.

Some facts:

There are around 500 long term empty homes in Reading and an estimated 5,000 people waiting for affordable housing to rent.

This is a scandal. And the number has increased this year due to the impact of the recession.

Families in Reading are having to wait on average 20 months for family-sized social housing to become available.

As a result, thousands of families and children in Reading are currently living in badly overcrowded conditions.

I am campaigning to get help for these families and to get the Council to build more family-sized social homes.

Nick Clegg's plan would make more of these types of houses available for families to rent in Reading and it would help reduce the pressure to develop sensitive sites for new housing - a big issue for many people living in West Berkshire.

Labour's policies for tackling empty homes have not worked and the recession has made matters worse here in Reading.

Parts of West Reading empty homes are a real problem: notably Battle where there is a particularly problem of empty flats above empty shops.

I know from my campaigning in Redlands how an empty house can also blight an area - as in the case of 35 Christchurch Road - a source of frustration to residents for miles around.

Often the reason people leaves their homes empty is because is it cheaper for them to do so. Under the proposals outlined by Nick Clegg today, people who own these homes will get a grant or a cheap loan to renovate them so they can be used: grants if the home is for social housing, loans for private use.

I am delighted Nick Clegg has put action to tackle empty homes at the heart of the Lib Dem manifesto for the upcoming elections and I look forward to seeing how it goes down on the doorstep.

Check out this video for more info: