Your Council, Your Money, Your Say!

FOR the 1st time ever, residents are being asked to let the council know what they think council cash should be spent on next year – and to also suggest ways money could be saved.  And their views will be presented to councillors when they meet in the new year to set the council tax, and help them decide how much is spent on key services such as schools, roads, looking after the elderly and keeping the city clean.

City council leader Warren Bradley said:- “Liverpool, like many councils, is facing some tough choices this year. Because of the credit crunch, more people are in need of the vital services we provide, and we are getting less money from the government to pay for them.  We have already saved more than £44 million in the past three years, but we still need to make more savings to keep the council tax rise to below 5% next year.

That is why the views of the city’s residents are so important. What does the public want its council tax spent on? What do they think are the most important services we provide? And we want to know where they think the council spends too much money - and suggestions where we can further cut back on waste.  These views will help us decide what services should be a priority next year and also help decide on the level of council tax.”

More than 22,000 survey forms – Your council, Your Money, Your Say – have been distributed to every library and one stop shop in the city.  Residents are asked to choose their top 3 priorities from a list of services ranging from libraries and parks to spending on children and older people.  And they can also submit ideas on improving council services and ways of saving money.

Councillor Flo Clucas, executive member for finance, said:- “We have made great progress in making big efficiency savings and at the same time really improving services. But as councillors, it’s our job to listen carefully to local people so that the services we provide are the services they want. Money is very tight, so it’s more important than ever to take on board what the public say. It’s their money.  And this isn’t just a paper exercise. Local opinion really does matter and will have a direct impact on setting our spending priorities for next year and the level of the council tax.”

Everyone who completes the survey will be entered into a prize draw with the chance to win a handy £100 worth of gift vouchers.  The consultation started on Monday, 24 November 2008 and completed survey forms must be returned by Friday, 12 December 2008.  The survey form can also completedonline.

And do you think you can run the city’s affairs better than your councillors? Try out the new Budget Game where you have to grapple with tough decisions on where best to save council cash, how to find extra resources for vital life-or-death services and at the same time keeping the council tax as low as possible. You can play online by logging on to liverpool.gov.uk/budgetconsultation - and find out just how tough it is running a city council with a budget of half a billion pounds!

Are Small Public Companies The Answer To Real Estate Credit Market Crunch?

WITH the vice-like grip the current economic crisis has on the real estate development credit market, it seems that everywhere you look these days there are bankrupt developments, peppering the landscape, frozen in time. But alas, a fresh concept on the rise in the USA may just be the answer to developer’s current dilemma... "Small public companies designed for the purpose of providing investment capital for real estate developments. And by emphasizing their strengths, in a particular development niche, rather than trying to shot gun the entire market, they reinforce the chances of success." According to Anne Bradstreet of AssociatedNews.Info.

Anne in a press release said that:- "Small public companies have an advantage over large lending institutions in other ways too. For example, small public companies can provide equity based investments for investors through joint ventures with developers rather than investments with capital providers such as commercial lenders. This arrangement gives the small public company much greater flexibility, increased reaction time, and the ability to provide better service to the developer. Moreover, since these projects are typically smaller and leverage-free, they are much easier to manage and provide the safest and most profitable investment for the company, and its investors.

After watching the vicious credit market take its toll on real estate developers across the United States, the small public company concept providing capital for the real estate development industry is definitely looking like the wave of the future."   Could this be the same for the UK?  Email us your views to:- news24@southportreporter.com.

Calling all Merseyside schools! Get heart healthy for 2009

IF you’re a teacher in Merseyside who doesn’t know your twister from your slalom or your jumping jax from your double Dutch, then the British Heart Foundation’s (BHF) Skipping Skills DVD is for you.

This new skipping skills DVD has been released as part of the BHF’s popular sponsored skipping challenge, Jump Rope For Heart and makes it even easier for teachers to introduce skipping in their school. Containing beginner and advanced skills sections and slow motion demonstrations there’s no excuse not to sign up today!

Last year schools throughout Merseyside raised an impressive £5,386.83 for the nation’s heart charity, getting 34 schools active and involved in the scheme. But it’s not just the BHF who can benefit from this heart healthy initiative!

Jump Rope For Heart:-

* Raises money for YOUR school as well as for the nation’s heart charity

* Comes with over £100 worth of free resources including skipping ropes, a DVD, lesson plans and music!

* Encourages children to be healthy and active

* Is suitable for all ages

* Is fun, flexible and can be done at any time of the school year.

For information on how to join the Jump Rope For Heart initiative please call 0845 130 8663,email or visit bhf.org.uk/jumprope.

Local Campaigners Oppose ID Cards for Foreign Nationals

CAMPAIGNERS from local Defy-ID and NO2ID groups will protest outside the immigration centre on Water Street, Liverpool on Tuesday, 25 November 2008, in opposition to the introduction of UK identity cards for foreign nationals.

The groups will wear barcode signs around their necks to signify the encroaching of the database state.

People from outside the EAA applying for or renewing visas for study or marriage ("students and spouses") will be required to attend one of the six immigration service centres around the UK, be interrogated, fingerprinted and have their details stored and tracked on a database system which resembles the UK National Identity Register, one of the most intrusive and insecure identity databases in the world.

Northwest NO2ID co-ordinator Dave Page said:- "The Government is determined that everybody in this country, and UK citizens abroad, should be interrogated, catalogued and fingerprinted on its unpopular, useless control-freak database.

First they're targeting a voiceless group with plenty to lose by non-compliance, but we'll all be in the firing line soon."

Liverpool Defy ID spokesperson Richie Krueger added:- "We strongly oppose the the Government's plan.

As history has proven, when governments have tried to impose this type of surveillance upon citizens, they have rolled out similar schemes by going for the most desperate or vulnerable people first.

This is the first part of the Government's strategy to register all citizens in this inhumane way.

Big Brother is knocking on the door and we owe it to ourselves, our children and our children's children, to send him packing.

We strongly urge people to stand alongside the first people to be 'registered' and protest on the 25 November 2008, when the Government attempt to begin implementation."

What are your views on this, let us know by emailing us at news24@southoportreporter.com.