Council Leader, Cllr John Kent said: “This is a really exciting idea where the authority would act as a facilitator for people who would be able to fill the gap in government funding we are facing.” And Cllr Diana Hale, the portfolio holder for Education, explained: “This was first suggested by youth workers and staff at Grangewaters.
Please may I ask the Prime Minister to encourage local councils to look favourably and flexibly on community groups that wish to have roads closed to hold street parties to celebrate the forthcoming royal wedding?
“However, I am cautious about this. When the government announced rises in the tolls they promised that the money would be ring-fenced to crossing improvements and they’ve gone back on their word there. “They also said there would be a public consultation into the rises launched by the end of 2010. We’re now ten days into 2011 and there is still no consultation.”
DID you know that Catch 22 were paid £85,000 in December for their work with the Family Intervention Team? Or that Donyland Lodge received £25k, Alberphil training: £533; Amy Weir and associates: £1,127; DC Dance Studios: £5k; Festive Impact Ltd £8,500?
Did you know that Inspiration Supported Lodgings were paid nearly £7,000 in respect of child refugees' Morrison Facilties Services, £250,000, Mucky Pups £1,375; The Lightbulb Ltd £25k.
Since May, Thurrock Council has issued 50% more reminders, 100% more second reminders and imposed over £1.4million in court costs in an attempt to increase council tax collection alone.
Currently MPs living in what is known as the ‘London Area’ are given a £3,760 allowance for travel expenses into the capital while other MPs living further afield are allowed a second home in London alongside their constituency home. If the plans are approved it would mean Essex MPs could once again charge for a house within their constituency and another property in London.
The suspension came in the same month that Thurrock Council's Head of Communities Simon Black was reported to have stormed out of Thurrock Council after a heated debate regarding the voluntary sector. YourThurrock understands that he has been placed on "special leave" until his retirement in a few weeks. The splits come at a particularly tense time for the voluntary sector as many of the groups put together their bids for future funding.
AFTER a forgettable 2010, many thought Thurrock Conservatives would have started the new year with added vigour and enthusiasm but at the first two meetings of the year, they appeared to have stayed away in droves.
There is no real-time IT interface between the Council, Vertex and Morrison. The manual system in place has significant limitations. A new IT
system will be in place by February 2011 that will allow the Council and Morrison to have access to the same information and allow real time
management and monitoring. In the mean-time, there will be a lack of real-time performance data until the new system is implemented. Secondly there are a high proportion of repair requests being inaccurately logged as urgent. Morrison have located two technical staff in the Council’s Contact Centre to provide immediate technical support thereby ensuring requests are logged appropriately".
Labour's council candidate for Stanford West Gemma Robbins said, "As someone who regularly travels into London for work, I know what a big difference this will make to me and the hundreds of others who commute from Stanford-le-Hope.
As the tolls make some £47 million profit each year that shouldn’t be a difficult amount to find so we hope we want to see this work commence early in 2011 so that the congestion which causes such delays for motorists and costs businesses an estimated £21 million a year can be removed.
By contrast, many have been impressed with new Conservative MP, Jackie Doyle Price's performance on the floor of the House where she has asked a number of searching questions which have the Thurrock constituent at the heart of the matter. Jackie has also been determined to put residents first, especially when it comes to the matter of the Dartford crossing and Junction 30 of the M25.
THE ASBESTOS company at the heart of a controversial use of land in South Ockendon has gone into liquidation. Companies House broke the news that T and S Multi Services ceased trading on December 15th.
The VAT rise to 20 per cent on 04 January 2011 is not the best way to encourage businesses and individuals to increase their spending to get the economy back on the move and in April the Government increase tolls at the Dartford Crossing by a third with a further increase in the pipeline for 2012 – at the same time the promise that the £47 million annual profit from the tolls will be spent improving the local road network has been broken with the money disappearing into a central pot.
