Your District Councillor

Charlotte Cane Tel. 742509

District Council Notes (June July 2001)

I congratulate James Paice on being re-elected to serve as our MP and James Fitch on his re-election as our County Councillor. The turnout for the General Election in South East Cambridgeshire was 63.5% - down from 74.4% at the last General Election. The turnout for the County Election in the Burwell Division (which includes Reach, Swaffham Prior and Swaffham Bulbeck) was 65%. Compared to the rest of the country these turnouts were good – one MP was elected on a turnout of just 34.1%. But the fact that one third of people entitled to vote did not vote is very worrying for the health of our democracy. East Cambridgeshire District Council is responsible for running all elections within the District’s boundaries. I would be very interested to hear from people, especially from those who did not vote, what we could do to encourage more people to vote.

I have been receiving complaints that Stagecoach bus drivers are not always stopping between bus stops when requested. The Operations Manager, Peter Bald, has confirmed that in rural areas buses should stop between bus stops if requested, unless it is not safe to stop. He has assured me that he has reminded all drivers to stop on request in rural areas and ensured that it will form part of driver training. If you have problems with drivers not stopping on request please let Mr Bald know at Stagecoach in Cambridge, 100 Cowley Road, Cambridge, CB4 0DN, 01223 423578 and please let me know as well. We must make sure that drivers stop on request so that the buses are convenient for the majority of us to use.

East Cambridgeshire District Council held our Annual Council Meeting on 22^nd May. We elected a new Chairman of Council, Cllr Valerie Leake who represents the neighbouring ward of Bottisham. We also elected the Chairmen of our new Policy Committees, which will take most of the decisions about how we run the Council, once Full Council has set the budget and the policy framework. Cllr Edward Twentyman, who represents Cheveley, will chair Policy and Resources, Community Services will be chaired by Cllr Hazel Williams, who represents Burwell, Environment and Transport will be chaired by Cllr Ian Allen, who represents Ely West and the Chairman of Strategic Development is Cllr Philip Lewis, who represents Cheveley. I remain as Leader of the Council, responsible for ensuring that these four Committees work together to deliver the targets set out in the Council’s Corporate Plan. The Personnel Committee, which is responsible for ensuring that we have the right staff and staffing policies, is Chaired by Cllr Jeremy Friend-Smith, who represents Ely West.

We also have two quasi-judicial committees – Planning, which is chaired by Cllr John Abbott who represents Fordham, and Licensing, which is chaired by Cllr Neil Morrison who represents Littleport. Quasi-judicial means that these committees take decisions based on the law and the information supplied by applicants, officers and sometimes objectors. It is illegal for there to be a party political steer to the decisions taken by these two committees.

To further open up the Council’s business to public scrutiny and questioning, I hope that by autumn the Community Services Committee and Full Council will meet in the evening. Licensing Committee already meets in the evening and more members of the public have attended these evening meetings than attended when the meetings were held during the working day.

The Independent Panel on Members Allowances has reported and recommended an increase in most allowances and a fall in some. The Panel was totally independent, with no members of the District Council on it. It looked at allowances paid by other Councils, timesheets kept by Councillors detailing our Council work and questioned the three Group Leaders about the role of Councillors. They have recommended that our allowances should be based on the hours which we put in to Council work at £4.50 an hour, which includes an allowance for costs such as telephone and postage. They have recommend that all members should get a basic allowance of £2,862 a year. Members with additional responsibilities would get an additional annual Special Responsibility Allowance (SRA) – Council Leader £4,702, Deputy Leader £1,175, Leaders of other Groups £216, Chairmen of most Committees £864, Vice Chairmen £216, Chairman of Licensing Committee £216, Chairman of Working Parties £36 per month. There would cease to be an SRA for the Chairman and Vice Chairman of Council, who get special expenses allowances of £2,820 and £579 respectively. In addition members can claim for travel costs for attending Council meetings and some meetings on behalf of the Council and Child Care and Dependent Carers’ Allowances on the same basis as the staff scheme. The full report is available from the Council. I would like to hear your views on these recommendations before Council decides later this year whether or not to accept them.

My next Councillor’s Surgery will be at Swaffham Bulbeck Village Hall on Tuesday August 14th from 7.30-9.00 pm. These Surgeries are an opportunity for you to come and discuss any District Council matters with me and I also have a selection of leaflets giving information about Council services and Planning matters. Please come if you wish to discuss any matters with me. Or, if you prefer you can contact me at home: 34 Swaffham Road, Reach, CB5 0HZ, charlotte.cane@eastcambs.gov.uk, 742509.

Charlotte Cane (Liberal Democrat Councillor for the Swaffhams and Reach

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