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Liverpool unites
with other Cities to tackle social exclusion
LIVERPOOL has united with
other Cities, Towns and boroughs across the country in a new
national network to tackle issues of social inequality.
To symbolise the commitment, Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson has
signed the Birmingham Declaration on Social Inclusion, has now been published.
The declaration states that, against a backdrop of public sector
cuts, the task of creating more inclusive Cities has moved beyond
what local or national government can do on their own and that there
is an urgent need to rally resources and expertise.
By signing the declaration, Liverpool has agreed to:-
► Be part of the National Social Inclusion Network;
► Share learning and develop joint campaigning on key issues around
social inclusion;
► Build a strong collective voice to articulate the arguments for
social inclusion for all our communities across the country;
► Identify action that can be taken around issues of shared concern;
The authorities that have signed the declaration alongside Liverpool
are:- Barrow-in-Furness, Birmingham, Bristol, Islington, Knowsley,
Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Newcastle, Plymouth, Sheffield,
Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Tower Hamlets.
The formation of the National Social Inclusion Network and the
declaration came out of the National Social Inclusion Symposium in
Birmingham, funded by the Barrow Cadbury Trust, in September 2013.
The network's activities will be focused on 8 themes that were
identified from the reports produced by fairness and poverty
commissions from around the country and developed at the symposium,
and Liverpool will focus on education and skills.
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson, said:- "These are tough times
for people with cuts to essential services and reductions in welfare
all contributing to increasing social inequality.
In Liverpool, we are losing 58% of our net budget, while the impact
of the welfare cuts amounts to taking a further £227 million out of
people's pockets. Those who already face a daily struggle, have less
to spend in local shops and businesses.
I am pleased that we are leading on the education and skills agenda
because, despite the economic downturn, we have had some real
successes which we can share with others. We have created hundreds
of apprenticeships with our public and private sector partners, and
insisted on opportunities for local people to be employed and
trained on our key regeneration, housing and school building
schemes. All of this has helped reduce the number of 16 to 19 year
olds not in education, employment or training by around a quarter
over the last year. The National Social Inclusion Network will
provide an opportunity to bring together our experience and
expertise, learn from each other and combine our efforts to build a
strong collective voice to articulate the arguments for social
inclusion for all our communities across the country."
The other themes and areas are:-
► Living wage and income inequality (Islington)
► Impact of welfare (Birmingham)
► Fuel, finance and food (Plymouth)
► Youth employment (Birmingham)
► Access and affordable transport (Sheffield)
► Democratic accountability (Newcastle)
► Housing (Tower Hamlets) |
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'City Bike'
is City's bike!
THE PEOPLE of Liverpool
have spoken; and they have given the City's exciting new cycle hire
scheme its official name. Liverpool's bikes for hire will be
branded City Bike, following a public vote, which has seen hundreds
of people airing their views over which name they think will best
resonate with people in the city and beyond.
City Bike beat-off other shortlisted names 'Pool Bike and Pop Cycle
as the public's favourite and will now be the brand emblazoned
across the bikes and stations, when they launch in April.
Liverpool City Council's Cabinet Member for Transport and Climate
Change, Councillor Tim Moore, said:- "I'm really pleased that
we've had such a fantastic response to our public vote - it shows
just how much interest there is in this scheme.
It's important that local people are given ownership of this scheme,
and what better way to do that than to ask them to choose the name
for it? If all those who took part in this vote show the same level
of enthusiasm for using the bikes, we can look forward to the scheme
being a great success! We're now just weeks from launch and
I'm looking forward to us finalising the City Bike branding, as well
as the design and colour of our bikes, and unveiling them to the
public in the very near future."
Experienced UK supplier HourBike Ltd has been chosen to run the
scheme; which is set to be the biggest in the UK outside London;
after a competitive tender process.
The scheme will launch in April with an initial 100 bikes at 10 city
centre stations. By July, there will be 500 bikes at 50 stations;
with 1,000 bikes at more than 100 stations, across the city, by
March 2015.
People simply need to pay an annual membership fee which allows them
to take a bike from any station, ride it where they like, then take
it back to any station, ready for the next person to use.
No booking is needed and it's self-service; just turn up and go.
The bikes are best for short journeys; and using them will be free
to members to use for the first half hour.
Liverpool's cycle hire scheme was announced last year. Since then,
extensive consultation has been carried out with local people,
businesses, key tourism and sites and educational institutions to
get their views on the scheme, how they would use it, and where they
would like stations to be located.
The City Council also held a Cycle Hire Demonstration Week in the
city centre last July, giving hundreds of people the chance to try
out bikes from a range of suppliers, get to grips with how to use
the stations and provide feedback.
The funding for the Liverpool City Cycle scheme comes from the Local
Sustainable Transport Fund (LSTF), allocated by the Department for
Transport (DfT). Liverpool has received £2.8m from the fund, of
which £1.5 million is being invested in delivering the cycle hire
scheme. The remainder of the funding has been committed to a number
of cycling and signalling infrastructure improvements, and
sustainable transport initiatives in different parts of the city.
The LSTF aims to reduce the number of journeys made by car, promote
sustainable transport, and reduce congestion and greenhouse gas
emissions. It also aims to enhance access to employment and other
essential services and improve journey time and reliability. |
