by Paul Scully | Jul 19, 2009 | News |
It’s that time of the year again when I come with my begging bowl. I write the blog to encourage communication with residents of the ward and the borough as a whole and I thoroughly enjoy doing it. I’ve been lucky enough to get some wider recognition for doing so, reaching the third most popular blog written by a councillor last year in the same award. I’ll be doing well to hold that with plenty of new excellent bloggers around but I would be grateful if you would take a few moments to include me when voting for your top ten political blogs. I’ve reproduced Iain Dale’s instructions for voting below. You can click on the picture to the right to go to the instruction page as well.
It’s that time of year again, when Total Politics asks you to vote for your Top 10 favourite blogs. The votes will be compiled and included in the forthcoming book, the Total Politics Guide to Blogging 2009-10, which will be published in September. This year the poll is being promoted/sponsored by LabourList and LibDemVoice as well as this blog.The rules are simple.
1. You must vote for your ten favourite blogs and ranks them from 1 (your favourite) to 10 (your tenth favourite).
2. Your votes must be ranked from 1 to 10. Any votes which do not have rankings will not be counted.
3. You MUST include ten blogs. If you include fewer than ten your vote will not count.
4. Email your vote to toptenblogs@totalpolitics.com
5. Only vote once.
6. Only blogs based in the UK, run by UK residents or based on UK politics are eligible.
7. Anonymous votes left in the comments will not count. You must give a name
8. All votes must be received by midnight on 31 July 2009. Any votes received after that date will not count.
I can’t help you with supplying a list of nine others to vote for. Last year, I provided a list of blogs in various categories that you might like to read, the blogroll on the right hand side of this page has a few links to others. You decide, but if you can shove me up at the top, I’d be much obliged!
![Exploring Adult Social Services Part 3]()
by Paul Scully | Jul 19, 2009 | News |
The last of my three trips around the social services in Sutton comprised of three parts. Oakleigh Care Centre has radically changed in the last few years. Care for the increasing numbers of people with dementia would have been limited to having them sit in a day centre just a few years ago. The manger of Oakleigh, Rick, has channeled his energy and enthusiasm into transforming Oakleigh into a place where those suffering from dementia can retain a comparatively high level of independence and certainly a far higher level of dignity that would have been thought possible in the past. Residents have made a groundbreaking film, having been taught to use the equipment, a petting zoo had come over the weekend with sheep and goats taking over the sensory garden and Ollie the pet dog has the run of the place. Actors say never work with children or animals. Dementia specialists go for completely the opposite. I was told of a wonderful example of a resident speaking for the first time in a year when she first petted the dog.
Then to Ludlow Lodge in Wallington. Mainly an intermediate care service, the aim here is to work with residents who have come from hospital, either after an operation or a fall, to recover and regain confidence to return to their own homes. I met a lady who was being shown how to take a cup of tea from the kitchen to her seat using a trolley whilst carrying her stick. This is something that we take for granted. Now look forty years into the future and imagine coming out of hospital having had a gall bladder removed. Helping people back into their own homes is great for the person themselves and good economic sense for the council and the Health Service, meaning that beds can be used for others and scarce money can be better targeted.
Finally the Short Term and Re-ablement Team (START), based next to Ludlow Lodge. Sandra Roche who was my tour guide for the morning has introduced some brilliant entreprenurial ideas into this area. The senior management must be commended for allowing staff the freedom to innovate in this way. The START team will come into people’s homes at an early stage to assess and give the support that the resident needs. Again, the aim is to reintroduce as much independence to their lives as possible, acheiving the ideal balance of improving people’s lives whilst running an efficient department. IT systems are used well to ensure that team members are spending most of their time with residents rather than in the office or on the road. A body of evidence is building up to show quite how much money this is saving the authority.
I accompanied Senior Carer Lynne Locke to visit a family in Beddington. The husband had been diagnosed with a brain tumour. He was born in Burma, so we had a lot in common to talk about, including common family friends. He was at his most passionate though, when speaking about how the carers made him feel. Living through the terror of an uncertain future as well as the physical symptoms that had left him bed-bound, the carers restored a level of dignity. His direct quote, spoken with a tear in his eye, was that they made him feel like a human being again.
Now I hadn’t realised that Sandra and Lynne were stars of the small screen otherwise I would have asked for an autograph, but a short film appears on the Local Government Channel website, where they talk about their excellent service in more detail. Well worth a few minutes of your time.
by Paul Scully | Jul 17, 2009 | News |
Earlier this week, I continued my whistlestop tour of the borough’s adult services, finding out more about how voluntary groups provide such valuable support for residents. Sutton Centre for Independent Living and Learning (SCILL) and Sutton Carers were perfect examples of the fact that Local Authorities are often not the right people to provide services themselves, instead supporting others who can be more responsive.
I’ve met both Sam Edwards who runs SCILL and Rachael Macleod (second from right in photo) from Sutton Carers on several occasions around a table. It is only spending a bit of time away from meeting rooms, seeing their work firsthand that you can get the fullest sense of the role that their organisations play.
First up, lunch at Sherwood Cafe. Based in SCILL, it is open to the public as well as people using the centre. Star turn was Charlie who served us and who had proved to be an excellent ambassador for the service at the Take Part, Take Pride stall in Sutton High Street earlier. We discussed the changes that were happening in Adult Social Care with the Government’s “Transforming Social Care” agenda. The main thrust of this is to ‘personalise’ services so that the elderly or those with a disability do not simply get taken from home, left in a large room in a day centre and collected at the end of the day. Instead residents have access to Direct Payments, cash that they can spend on the help and support that they want. This helps pay for personal assistants, trips and other support when it is needed rather than being imposed. Sam’s team handles this work, ensuring that it serves its purpose in being flexible, whilst maintaining the integrity of the system. I was especially impressed with the small but very able and creative team who worked with residents to go beyond just supplying basic support. They acted as life coaches, encouraging visitors to SCILL to look beyond the day to day and so investigate other areas that SCILL can help with to improve the quality of their lives and to find and build a level of independence.
Then onto Sutton Carers. I don’t know many Canadians, but Rachael Macleod’s default excuse for being a no-nonsense kinda gal, championing her cause is that she is from Canada. If that’s the case, Stephen Harper must have a queue a mile long on Parliament Hill, with people fighting for what they believe. Persuasive, comprehensive and most of all passionate about her subject, Rachael is someone you want on your side and a real asset to Sutton Carers. Having spent sometime ‘speed-dating’ the staff, with 10 minutes or so looking at each area, I met someone who had dropped into the centre. Disabled herself, her husband was an alcoholic. Who else can you turn to in such an instance? Where else can you go? Both professional support and a friendly ear from volunteers who had been carers are available.
There is still more to be done to ensure that everyone knows about what is on offer and what they can acheive. We can always do more to support charities like Sutton Carers However, they are both excellent services and both great examples of what can be done when council officers have the foresight to set people free from the constraints of usual outdated practice.
Hat Tip: Radio Jackie for photo.
by Paul Scully | Jul 13, 2009 | News |
On Friday, I went on the first of three tours of Sutton’s Adult Social Services. All councillors know about waste collection, the state of our roads and policing because these are visible services that affect everyone on a day to day basis. Support for the disabled, the elderly and for carers is a vital component of the council and the biggest area of spending with 38% of our council tax going towards funding this. However, unless you use the services, have relatives or friends that use the service or volunteer yourself, it is too easy to allow this area to pass you by. So when the opportunity came to find out more, I jumped at it.
First port of call was the same first contact that residents would have, the part of the call centre that specialises in care matters. I recall almighty problems when the new ‘Paris’ database was implemented which records clients’ details but it seems to be working really well now with full details being shared across the service. This saves an inordinate amount of time only having to ask questions once. There is nothing so demoralising as being passed from pillar to post and having to start your story yet again to another voice on the line. Some 80% of queries are resolved at this stage. The Council works well with voluntary organisations who provide a whole host of services. Often it is just a matter of explaining what is available and where they can find the right people.
Literally next to this area of first contact sits the Access Team, made up of social workers and care managers. They have the expertise to resolve the more complicated issues and direct the teams out in the field. I was impressed to see the enthusiasm of the team. I could see two main reasons for this. Firstly they felt able to make decisions and resolve issues quickly. Secondly, they were being trained up towards being fully fledged social workers giving them a goal and a deserved sense of acheivment as they progressed in gaining new skills. There were many years of collective council service in the team. It’s good to see the pride in showing me the ropes.
Next stage was a trip to the Cheam Priory Centre behind Cheam Baths (!Issue alert!). Two teams of social workers serve the Borough. Cheam is home to the West Team. I spent an hour getting to grips with the way that the teams work with the added complication of safeguarding. Finally I accompanied Helen, a Care Manager on a visit to a couple’s home. Having suffered a stroke eight years ago, the husband was partially paralysed and found speaking difficult. His wife was his full-time carer. They had just returned from a few days’ holiday and it was clear that this was very welcome respite from the hard work involved in simply living their lives.
Helen had seen the family before and reviewed their situation to see what more support could be offered. She had already pointed them towards the Sutton Carers Centre, an essential organisation for any local carer and discussed financial support as well as alterations to the home to make it easier to continue living independently. Small things to help make it easier getting in and out of the bath make a massive difference to the quality of life. These were proud people who were coping under difficult circumstances. Within my short visit, I could see how tiring it was for them but also how they had kept a great sense of humour.
I’m looking forward to the next visits, today and Thursday. Following that, we will be able to tackle the issues far more knowledgeably when developing policy on how to change the future of Sutton.
![Exploring Adult Social Services Part 3]()
by Paul Scully | Jun 24, 2009 | News |
The expenses scandal has rightly horrified and appalled members of the public. Local councillors get tarred with the same brush as being in it for ourselves. Nothing could be further from the truth for the vast majority of local politicians who give up so much of their time for scant reward. Most politicians have realised that this is not a party political issue but something that MPs from all parties have been caught up in and requires a solution from all parties.
Local LibDems however have been using it as an election message in the Nonsuch by-election to get people to vote for a local councillor, not on the 23 year track record of the Liberal Democrat council, certainly not on the previous track record of the LibDen candidate who failed to turn up to a single local committee meeting in his final year as councillor representing another part of the Borough, but instead on the issue of the behaviour of MPs outside London.
Why did they not look closer to home? Paul Burstow was lauded as a saintly MP by the Telegraph because he did not claim a second home allowance. Perfectly sensible for an MP in a marginal seat with a precarious majority. However he didn’t warrant further research which would have uncovered the fact that he paid his wife to do his books and then got them checked by an accountant who did his self-assessment tax return (for one example see page 91 of his online expenses. Both were paid using taxpayers’ funded expenses. Nick Clegg called upon Alistair Darling to resign for doing exactly the same thing. I won’t be holding my breath for the same call to come for his Chief Whip.
MPs are PAYE, with their salaries being paid after tax has been deducted. The only occasion that a Member of Parliament would need to amend their taxes as a result of their work in Parliament is if they have claimed expenses for a high value item that would still be theirs should they lose a subsequent election. They then have to pay tax on that item as if it was a benefit, over a three year period. This would mean that the folding machine bought via Paul Burstow’s £10k communication allowance would be taxable (which through some deft juggling of allowances ended up as a bill to the taxpayer of £15,525, one of the highest of all the MPs), but the £643.01 paid to a company to stuff 23,815 envelopes the month before and the £22.52 spent on wine and crisps “for stuffing” would not be.
Fortunately the residents of Nonsuch aren’t taken in as easy as the Liberal Democrats would wish. One resident who has switched their vote from LibDem to Conservatives this time around, wrote comments on their letter. Next to “After all it’s your money that is being spent”, they have added “Yes we know. You waste ours Sutton.” I hope that the rest of the election campaign can focus on the issues that the candidates can actually have a direct bearing on for the residents of North Cheam and Worcester Park and in the meantime, the Westminster politicians can stop the yah-boo politics that they purport to hate and get on with cleaning up Parliament.
UPDATE: The Sutton Guardian carried a story on this in their Thursday edition. Paul Burstow explained that he needed to get the taxpayer to pay for his accountant in order to account for his expenses to the taxpayer. Two issues here. He needed the accountant to do his self-assessment tax return according to the invoices. Surely accounting for expenses just requires the occasional use of a photocopier. Secondly, he didn’t account for his expenses, Parliament eventually did by putting them on the website for the Sutton Guardian and others to read after being forced into it. This is in sharp contrast to Ben Wallace MP who made all of his expenses public as far back as February 2008 .
