Tenant tax to be scrapped

 The unpopular “Tenant Tax” will be scrapped, with local authorities being allowed to keep all council house rents and sales receipts they collect to reinvest in social housing, under plans announced today by the coalition government. 

The proposal, which sees the coalition delivering on a major Liberal Democrat manifesto commitment, will result in the Housing Revenue Account subsidy being scrapped in favour of greater financial freedom for councils. Under the previous system, all council tenant rent was paid into a local housing pot, from which the government was allowed to make deductions to fund subsidies for other local authorities. The government also retained some of the money centrally. 

The new proposals will see this Housing Revenue Account subsidy scrapped. Instead councils will be able to retain all of the money from rents and sales receipts to invest in the repair, maintenance and construction of social housing in their area. 

Full details of the new system will be announced as part of the Spending Review on 20 October and will be introduced as part of the Localism Bill this autumn.

Tell the council what you think!

There are an increasing number of consultations online lately from the City Council and the County Council.

It’s easy to miss out on these. The City Council is asking for your feedback on:

  1. Parks and open spaces
  2. Its sustainability strategy
  3. New governance arrangements

The County Council wants you to comment on:

  1. Design approaches to Frideswide Square
  2. The Oxfordshire Big Debate (basically where to make cuts!)
  3. How important is Oxfordshire’s countryside to you?

Please do send in your comments – it is becoming increasingly common for councils to say that they have consulted residents but residents tell us they don’t know these consultations are happening. That is because they are very often online, and this bothers me because I know very well that some of our residents feel ‘disenfranchised’ by not having (or not choosing to have) access to the Web.

I shall set up sticky links to the the consultation websites so that you can click on them to make sure you haven’t missed out on anything!

Are you on the voters’ register?

Don’t forget to join the register if you are new to the area, or you may lose your chance to vote for a fairer Britain!

Visit www.oxford.gov.uk/elections to download a form,

or to get more election information

Collect a form from the front desk at the Town Hall
Call the Elections Helpline 01865 252987.

The deadline for registering to vote or to apply for a postal vote is 5pm on Tuesday 20 April.  Postal votes will be sent out from Friday 23 April and should be returned before the close of polling.

VOTE LIB DEM FOR A FAIRER BRITAIN

  •  Fair taxes.
  • A new, fair start for all children at school.
  • A rebalanced, fair and green economy
  • And clean, open, fair politics.

Refuse collection – update

Here is the latest bulletin from the City Council. If you have any remaining rubbish collection issues, please let David and me know

 

Thursday 21st January Today we have operated a normal collection service for Refuse, Recycling and Co-mingled for Blue week customers. 

Food Waste and Trade Waste collections have run to a normal schedule.  In addition, we have collected Co-mingled from Red week (Tuesday) customers in

North Oxford, Jericho and Norham Gardens. Our crews have supported each other throughout the day with the refuse crews, when they had finished their schedule of work and had tipped their loads, returning to assist their colleagues who were collecting Co-mingled waste in the Rosehill area. Some crews finished their work today at 17.45. We are now operating a normal residual waste collection service across the city. 

Friday 22nd January 

We will run a normal collection service for Refuse, Recycling and Co-mingled for both Red and Blue customers (Friday). There will be no green waste collection. Food Waste and Trade Waste collections will run as normal. 

We will also return to those areas that have missed their previous Co-mingled waste collections because of the bad weather. Our focus will be on Marston (Wednesday collection). Deliveries of bins/boxes/lilac and garden waste sacks will resume. 

Saturday 23rd January 

We will be collecting Co-mingled (Blue Box) from the Barton area.

We will be operating a Green Box service – area to be advised.

Sunday 24th January  

We will be running a limited green waste collection service in the

North Oxford area.

A Green Box waste collection service will also operate – area to be advised.

 

City Council tackling more snow in the city

Latest bulletin from the City Council 13/1/10 at 17.23

Today’s recycling and refuse collection services were suspended today due to the adverse weather conditions.

However, Oxford City Council, did provide a limited trade collection service in the city centre. We also operated a limited clinical waste collection service to areas that were accessible.

Tomorrow, we hope to be able to collect residual waste, weather permitting. However, we will be reviewing the situation tomorrow morning. We would advise residents to check our website for further information.

Tonight we will continue with our gritting schedule and our gritters will cover major routes throughout the city.

Tomorrow we will be clearing access routes to a number of secondary schools throughout the city.

 

County council’s response to snow clearing

Here is today’s update regarding what Oxfordshire County Council is doing to deal with the effects of the recent heavy snowfall and ongoing planning for the freezing temperatures forecast for the coming days.

Snowploughs and gritters have again been in operation day and night, keeping clear 100 per cent of the county’s priority routes, which amounts to more than 800 miles of road. On top of this we continue to plough a large number of more minor roads and we have done our best to grit pavements where resources have permitted.

Many routes to Oxfordshire’s more rural locations have been cleared in recent days. In large part this is due to the kind assistance of local farmers who have been using their own equipment to supplement the county council’s work. The county council is very grateful for this and wishes to acknowledge their efforts.

The operation to grit Oxford’s five Park and ride sites continues and we have also had teams out in town centres clearing snow from pathways and other areas. The council has also been focusing on snowploughing and gritting routes around schools.

As you are aware, the council’s contracted supplier Salt Union had not delivered any salt to the county since December. However, we have now received a number of lorry loads of salt. The council will be continuing to grit and snowplough throughout the weekend.

Council adult social care officers are still using 4×4 vehicles to get through the snow and access vulnerable people. There have been no significant difficulties with service delivery and senior managers remain happy with the way that services have been able to continue despite the adverse weather.


Emergency telephone number

Oxfordshire County Council has issued a single number, that will run 24hrs a day, for residents to contact them during the cold weather. This number is non-emergency (999 is the only number for blue-light services) and does not deal with Transport or Highways (the number for this is 0845 310 11 11).The number is: 0845 050 7666.

It is also the existing number for Adult Social Care and the out of hours Emergency Duty Team and continues with this function during this period.

The council is keen to emphasize the non-emergency nature of this number. If residents begin to use this for emergency service or roads related issues, it will quickly become overwhelmed.

Trial road closures will NOT go ahead

As you know, local councillors were asked just over a week ago to provide comments on the suggestion of trial road closures in Highfield and I advised the County that I would be collating responses and getting back to them by the end of this week. However, to my surprise and (to be honest) annoyance, the County has not waited for that feedback but announced a decision. The e-mail  which I have just received sets out in detail their argument and decision. To cut the chase: the County has decided not to carry out trial closures in the Lime Walk area, primarily  because of lobbying from the emergency services.

Many residents  have expressed an opinion on this issue. Some  will be relieved, others dismayed, others downright angry — there is a wide variety of views within the area to be affected by the closures and adjoining streets. Some will feel that the area has been robbed of possible closures after the press coverage a couple of months back but, as I have said before, the newspaper was misinformed by the present MP for Oxford East: he went to the press claiming that trial closures were definite without either having a written guarantee that they were to take place and without thinking through the controversy his action would cause. He should have known better. But that is behind us and the question now is how we move forward.

I am determined that we do not lose the opportunity actually to get measures to help the Lime Walk area. I have represented Headington for over seven years and in that time I have seen detailed proposals drawn up, then torn up, followed by a refusal to consider any changes in the area. What has happened has now put the issue back on the agenda and we must capitalise on that. The County is now, after years of saying ‘no’, offering to come up with measures for the area, within what seems to me a curiously short time period. I welcome that but what I will welcome more is fuller consultation with all local residents so that they can be engaged in the solutions to the problems that they have to face.

I and my ward colleague, Ruth Wilkinson, will be meeting members of the Highfield RA traffic group later this evening. We expected the meeting to be about our response to the County in consulting on trial closures. The agenda will be different now. What remains the same is my determination — and that of everyone around the table, I am sure — to get to solutions of the situation and not to allow this very real issue once again to disappear from the County’s view.

As always, if you want to contact me or Ruth, please do drop us a line.

Council contact numbers for City Works enquiries

PLEASE NOTE the contact numbers given in the Labour Party propaganda leaflet are WRONG

  recycle-new-h.jpg

The Oxford City Homes Contact Centre is now able to deal with your bin collection, recycling, bulky refuse and street services enquiries on the Oxford City Homes freephone number – tel 0800 227676.

For out of hours emergency waste, recycling and street services enquiries, call the duty out of hours officer on 07802 904000.