A government raid on local government pensions?

For much of the time that I have been at the county council I have sat on the Pension Fund Committee.  This is an interesting job, and the performance of the £2bn fund has much improved in recent years.

I was interested to read therefore, just a day after returning from holiday, that it is George Osborne's declared intention to abolish local authority pension funds and pool them into six National Wealth Funds each worth around £25bn.  It is interesting that the Chancellor has chosen to make the announcement now since a consultation on the future of local authority pension funds is currently underway and does not close until later in the year.  It seems that once again therefore we are witnessing  the normal pattern of a faux  government consultation taking place when a decision has in fact actually already been taken.

But this is not really the thing that is vexing me about the announcement.  It seems that  the intention of central government is to encourage the use of some of these funds, which, remember, represent the pension pots of our public servants, for investment in  'infrastructure'.

The Pension Fund Committee recently went to London for a training day and we met some of our fund managers.  One of these was a company that specialises in global infrastructure investment.  We were very impressed by their approach.  This was because their principal message to us was that only infrastructure projects that give an investment return equal to or, preferably, higher than other investment vehicles would be considered by them.  To be eligible a project had to enjoy the prospects of good positive cash flow in politically safe parts of the world.

While the UK is probably a safe enough place, I am not sure that the infrastructure projects that our Government has in mind will benefit from the same positive financial characteristics. In fact,   I am afraid that all this really amounts to is a form of deferred borrowing for which the tax payer will pick up the tab in years to come. ( The pensioner will be unaffected since being a defined benefit scheme he or she is entitled to their pension in any event.)

Monks Eleigh reaches out to refugees

Residents of Monks Eleigh are spearheading an initiative to collect much needed supplies to ease the hardship and suffering that are being experienced by refugees from the war in Syria.

The community will be organising a central point for the collection of warm clothes, bedding, books, toys and any other items which displaced families sorely need.

Please contact Kathy Haddow (01449 741331) kathy_haddow@hotmail.com

or Sharon James (01449 744122) sharon_james1@hotmail.co.uk

Or please leave your contact details in the book available in the Monks Eleigh shop.

Busy Saturday in Lavenham and Kersey

On Saturday morning I went down to Lavenham Library to present  the certificates to the children who completed the 2015 Summer Reading Challenge.   As usual there was a warm welcome from Debbie Roots and her team, pictured above.  The library is looking forward to supporting the Lavenham Literary Festival on the weekend of 14th and 15th of November.

After an appointment in Sudbury,  I went on to Kersey where I was very honoured to be asked to present the prizes at the 51st  Annual Flower and Produce Show.  There was a large number of entries in a wide range of classes encompassing crafts and cake making as well as horticultural pursuits.



























The array of silver cups and some of the exhibits are pictured above.   The first prize flower and fruit arrangement was particularly fine, looking a little like a Dutch painting!

A new approach to helping the vulnerable in and around Sudbury

A 'person centred' approach

Vulnerable people who live in and around Sudbury (including villages such as Lavenham, Long Melford, Chilton, Acton, the Waldingfields and Monks Eleigh) will be benefiting shortly from the introduction of ‘Local Area Co-ordination’.

It is hoped that the new scheme will create a much more joined up approach to helping people access the services that they need. The improved way of operating should both reduce demand for public services and provide a more ‘tailor made’ approach for individuals.

It is believed that at present people find accessing the services that they need complicated and confusing. To try to make life easier two local area coordinators are now being recruited to work with the elderly and other vulnerable people, together with their families, in finding the right service solutions for them.  The co-ordinators will help people to access the right information.  They will listen to their preferences and help them to choose the right options.  They will help to find new ways of doing things which may mean that public service provision is not actually necessary.  They will help people who feel isolated or lonely to build up social networks and community support systems.

This is a new way of doing things which has had significant success in other parts of the country. The new posts for the Sudbury area are being advertised currently here, and the job descriptions give a good idea of what is involved.

If you would like further information about this new way of doing things please contact me.

Chilton - the First 3000 Years

Local historian David Burnett has written a comprehensive history of the Parish of Chilton which has been published by the Sudbury Museum Trust. The book is edited by Valerie Herbert who used to live in Chilton Hall.

Chilton is a parish of much interest as anyone who has visited the church and contemplated the fine monuments, or walked past the wonderful moat at Chilton Hall. will have begun to understand.

The book is being launched next Saturday, 19th September, at Sudbury Library.  The author will be present to sign your copy!

Devo Suffolk

Suffolk took its first step towards seeking devolved powers from central government on 4th September when an 'expression of interest' was sent into Westminster.  I understand that not every council has risen to the challenge of seeking  devolved powers at this stage, but Suffolk wants to be in the vanguard.

The document, which can be downloaded here , will be discussed at the full council meeting next week.  It is not a very detailed paper, nor, it has to be said, a very user friendly one despite its colourful and cheerful appearance.  This probably has something to do with the fact that the process has been very 'Westminster driven'. Little guidance has been given from on high,  and the civil servants in charge have set tight and shifting deadlines for responses.  It seems that what DCGL (Department of Communities and Local Government) wants is something resembling a market in ideas that have been submitted to them by local authorities defining what, and how much, each would like to see devolved.  It is not surprising therefore that the Suffolk pitch is somewhat 'woolly', containing jargon aimed at bureaucrats rather than at the general public.

Whatever powers are devolved in the end (if any....many of us remain sceptical), it is clear that the structure of local government will change at the end of the process.  This is true not least because not only councils but also public bodies such as the Police and Crime Commissioner and the NHS are involved in the process. Additionally at the Local Government Association Conference this year, Michael Heseltine made it clear that no power would be devolved to what he described as 'old structures'.

The devolution 'prize' for places that are in the vanguard will, we are told, be 'significant'.  The only problem is that no one at present is very clear what this actually means

Nightmare in Elmsett

Clear as mud

I have been having discussions with Elmsett and Aldham Parish councils and other parties, aiming to instill some sanity into the way that the diversions due to numerous road closures in the area are signposted by the various agencies involved (including I am afraid SCC Highways).

It seems we still have some way to go.......