An (incomplete) overview of how the age of austerity has affected Notinghamshire over the last week or so. This is largely culled from various local media outlets, so apologies for some of the dodgy analysis.

BBC

Friday 5th November 2010, BBC staff joined the picket outside the BBC building here in Nottingham.

Journalists from across the BBC walked out at midnight in the first of two 48 hours strikes in protest at plans to devalue their pensions.

NUJ members at the BBC started taking part in strike action at 12.01am on Friday 5 November 2010 for the next 48 hours to stop the BBC Pensions Robbery.

NUJ Strike : members picket at BBC Nottingham, Nottingham Indymedia

Campaigning

On Saturday 6 November, Notts SOS held a protest outside the Vodafone store on Clumber Street to protest their disgust at the company being remiss in not paying £6Bn, owed to the Taxman.

Vodafone “not paying their taxes” Demo, Nottingham Indymedia
Direct action tax collection?, Nottingham Indymedia

Economy

1) ALMOST a third of households in Nottingham had no one in work last year, official figures show.

Nottingham, Liverpool and Glasgow topped the “workless” league table with more than three out of every 10 households having no one aged 16 and over in employment.

The study, by the Office of National Statistics, covering 2009, showed the national average was one in five households with no one in work, with North Notts among the areas closest to that figure.

However Nottingham City Council said the figures were “misleading” and claimed it would be 28th on the list if the survey compared “like with like.”

One third of city households out of work, new figures show, Nottingham Post

2) Nottingham is in the top ten again! Unfortunately for being the sixth town or city, worst hit by the recession. According to the Sun newspaper, Nottingham has 1254 empty shops or 23% of all shops.

Sixth worst hit in UK, Nottingham is Crap

Education

1) MORE than 60 children at Gedling School have protested against plans to close it.

The county council is proposing a phased closure of the 639-pupil school from 2012 onwards.

Pupils spent yesterday morning demonstrating outside the school in Arnold Road.

The protest continued until about 1.30pm when the pupils, all on a free day, held a meeting to discuss further campaigning, including how to get other secondary schools and feeder schools involved.

Pupils Chloe Wood and Chloe Lineker, both 12, organised the demonstration on Facebook.

Pupils protest against proposed closure of Gedling School, Nottingham Post
Parents express anger at plans to close Gedling School, Nottingham Post
Gedling School could close in 2012, Nottingham Post

2) PARENTS are furious that the fare on a bus taking their children to a Hucknall school has doubled — from 40p to 80p.

There has since been a big drop in the number of pupils at Holy Cross Roman Catholic Primary School who use the bus.

The vice-chairman of the governors at Holy Cross, Christa Bales, said: “Seventy children were travelling on the school bus but the number is now down to nine.

“The bus was formerly operated by Hucknall firm, Gospel Coaches, but Notts County Council has now given the contract to the Your Bus company, of Heanor.

A spokeswoman for the county council said the authority had combined the school run with the existing Your Bus number 228 bus service to get the best value for money.

Parents rage over shock hike in school bus fares, Hucknall Dispatch

3) Another 1,000 signatures are required on a petition calling for desperately-needed investment in Newark’s secondary schools.
So far just over 4,000 people have signed the Support Our Schools petition, boosted by 500 signatures collected in Newark Market Place on Saturday.

But campaigners want at least 5,000 in time for the visit of schools minister Lord Hill to the Magnus, Orchard and Grove schools in less than three weeks.

Plea for petition names, Newark Advertiser

Fire and Rescue Service

ONE in six fire engines in Notts could be taken off the road and firefighters laid off due to Government cuts.

The Government announced in its spending review that it would cut the fire service grant by 25 per cent over the next four years. The grant makes up about half of Notts Fire and Rescue Service’s income. The other half comes from precepts set in council tax.

Notts Fire and Rescue Service could be cut back by one sixth, Nottingham Post

Forestry Commission

Rumours that the Government was planning to help balance The Treasury’s books by selling off land managed by the Forestry Commission surfaced last week, although officials refused to confirm them.

But the Government has tabled the Public Bodies Bill in Parliament which will pave the way for ministers to transform the way forests are managed.

If passed, the bill would give the Government the power to abolish the Forestry Commission, merge it with other bodies, or pass its responsibilities to other organisations or individuals.

The commission runs 18 per cent of all woodland in the UK, including the 1,335-hectare Sherwood Pines Forest Park, the largest single tract of forest open to the public in the East Midlands.

Sherwood Forest Country Park, which includes a nature reserve and the world-famous Major Oak, will not be included in the Government’s plans as it is not managed by the Forestry Commission.

Ministers launch bid to sell off parts of Sherwood Forest, Nottingham Post

Health

MORE than 700 people have joined an online campaign calling for Stapleford Walk-in Centre to remain open.

Supporters of the centre say hundreds of people have signed up to a Facebook group called Save Stapleford Walk-in Centre.

A CONSULTATION about the future of two walk-in health centres in Notts has been launched.

NHS Notts County is giving people the chance to vote for one of four options to decide what should happen to Ashfield Health Village and Stapleford Care Centre.

Together the walk-in centres see around 37,000 patients a year at a cost of £1.3 million.

Patients have say on future of two Notts walk-in centres, Nottingham Post
Hundreds join campaign to save Stapleford Walk-In Centre, Nottingham Post

Housing

On Tuesday 2nd November, opponents of funding cuts to Framework organised a “flash mob” in the Market Square.

Framework “flash mob”, Nottingham Indymedia

Law

Campaigners have less than two months to save Newark Magistrates’ Court after it was revealed it is favoured for closure.
The chairman of the bench, Mrs Pam White, who is among those fighting to save the court, said the time-limit focused their minds.

She urged people, whether they had direct influence or not, to join the fight to save the magistrates’ court and Newark County Court, which handles family and care proceedings, small claims and private prosecutions.

A decision is due on December 14 with Senior Presiding Judge Lord Justice Goldring, who is reviewing courts in a bid to save £15.3m a year in running costs, favouring the closure of Newark, Worksop and Retford.

This would leave just Mansfield and Nottingham, with Newark cases heard in the city.

Townsfolk urged to fight for courts, Newark Advertiser

Leisure

A Nottinghamshire sports centre could close as part of £3.1m of council budget cuts.

Campaigners were already fighting to save the swimming pool at Meden Sports Centre in Warsop but the latest plan would shut the centre completely.

Mansfield District Council says the closure would save £135,000 per year.

New plan to close Warsop sports centre, BBC Nottingham

Notingham City Council

1) THREE community groups based at the Radford Unity Complex are hoping to buy the building from Nottingham City Council.

It would guarantee the future of all the groups which use the centre.

The council announced its plans to close the centre last December, which would save £400,000 over three years.

But earlier this year, the Nottingham Post revealed the council only gave resident groups three months notice to move out – instead of the necessary six months.

A prospective sale to arts group Nottingham Studios then fell through as the council tried to renegotiate terms to allow the community groups to stay until they could be relocated.

Three community groups hope to buy Radford Unity Complex, Nottingham Post

2) NOTTINGHAM City Council will not be sailing the “Team Nottingham” yacht at the world’s largest property fair in Cannes next year.

This year alone, the council forked out about £20,000 towards the yacht and expenses at the MIPIM fair, which it claims brings international investment to the city.

However, Councillor Jon Collins, leader of the council, said they “cannot afford it this year” due to less interest from the private sector.

In total, the trip costs in the region of £170,000, including the costs of hosting parties, hiring the yacht to hold meetings and dinners, accommodation, food and hospitality.

However, the private sector picked up most of this cost this year – leaving a bill of £20,000 for the council.

End of the journey for council’s Team Nottingham yacht,Nottingham Post
No More Powder Monkey, Nottingham City Council LOLS

Policing

1) NOTTS Police recruitment could be frozen for up to four years, losing up to 800 new recruits.

Police stations could also close, following the Government cuts revealed in the Spending Review last week.
The Government has said it is reducing police funding by 20% over the next four years. But Notts Police have not had their grants finalised yet.

Notts Police could freeze recruitment for four years – losing up to 800 new recruits, Nottingham Post

2) Jaki Lowe was an interim director of human resources working on a plan to shave £1.2m, or 17.5 per cent, from Notts Police’s spending on staff over the next three years.

Anonymous letters sent to Notts Police Authority and the Post expressed doubts over the need for her post, and claimed it was costing £1,000 a day.

In response to the letters, chairman of Notts Police Authority Councillor Jon Collins, requested another police force look into the allegations in the anonymous letters.

But Ms Lowe has now stepped down before the inquiry was completed.

‘£1,000 a day’ police consultant set to quit amid inquiry into role, Nottingham Post

Post

BROXTOWE MP Anna Soubry has been accused of misleading Parliament by a union, after she said only two Royal Mail workers in her constituency asked her to oppose the privatisation bill.

The Nottingham branch of the Communication Workers Union claim 150 workers at Beeston mail centre have written to Miss Soubry, urging her to fight the bill.

Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry accused of ‘misleading Parliament’ by postal union, Nottingham Post

Private sector

UP to 75 staff at the Ruddington branch of pharmaceutical firm Vectura are to be made redundant.

The company has announced it is to close the branch in Mere Way. A further 30 staff will be relocated to the firm’s two other sites in Chippenham and Cambridge.

The move follows a 90-day consultation about the plant’s future. It is not known when the plant will shut.

The Ruddington laboratories develop drugs for respiratory diseases.

The closure is part of a review of its research and development operations which aims to save £6m a year.

Up to 75 redundancies as Ruddington pharmaceutical plant shuts, Nottingham Post

Quangoes

MINISTERS have begun laying plans which will allow them to sell off £18 million worth of assets belonging to the East Midlands Development Agency.

Among those which may go up for sale are 13 sites in Nottingham and Notts – including Gedling Colliery, Cotgrave Colliery and the 91-acre environmentally-friendly business park Sherwood Energy Village.

Proposals released by the Government last week laid out how development agencies like emda would be wound down over the next few years.

The bodies set up to replace them, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), will not have any central Government funding in the way that emda does.

Now the Government has made it clear many of the assets which belonged to emda may be sold off and there is no “automatic presumption” that assets or the proceeds of their sales would be passed to local councils or to LEPs.

In fact, the Government’s White Paper identified “deficit reduction” as a key factor in any decisions, hinting that proceeds from the sale would be diverted to the Treasury.

£18m of East Midlands assets could be sold off as emda is replaced, Nottingham Post

Voluntary sector

‘DEVASTATING’ cuts to Citizens Advice Bureau funding could lead to a rise in homelessness in Retford, the service’s director has warned.

Bassetlaw Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB) director Stephen Saddington spoke out against cuts to the service of 67 per cent proposed by Notts County Council.

The proposals, which are under consultation, would see county council Grant Aid for the service reduced from £300k to £100k in 2011/2012.

Mr Saddington said bureaux in Retford, Worksop and Bircotes would be forced to reduce hours if the cuts went ahead.

Citizen’s Advice Bureau cuts ‘could see rise in number of homeless people’, Retford Times