Archive for December, 2012
Friday, December 28th, 2012
Following the sad passing of former Mayor of Tamworth, Cllr Brian Beale, local politicians have paid tribute to him as both a councillor and a friend.
Leading the tributes, Tamworth’s MP Christopher Pincher, said, “Brian was a fine Mayor of Tamworth and a conscientious councillor. He fought illness very bravely and he will be much missed by all of his many friends. We will all be thinking of Val and their family over Christmas and New Year.”
The Mayor of Tamworth, Cllr Tina Clements, said, “I have known Brian for most of my adult life – since I moved to Tamworth in 1995. He was the first person I met at a social event for the Conservative Party and he also encouraged me to stand as a politician. It is nice to know I can thank him for where I am today.
“He was an inspiration to me, both personally and also offered me help and support as a councillor. I know I speak for everyone who either worked alongside Brian or knew him personally, that he will be sorely missed. I would like to offer my thoughts to Brian’s family at this very said time.”
Leader of the Council, Cllr Daniel Cook, added, “I have had the privilege of working alongside Brian for almost a decade and he was a well-respected and important member of this council.
“When I was first elected in 2004 as a very young councillor, Brian was a senior figure who I soon learned was a person I could always trust and seek guidance from. To this day, I have respected Brian’s advice and will always remember – as will others – what a true gentleman he was.
“He was very well thought of by every single councillor, along with the people who lived in the ward he represented. I personally will miss his valuable contribution to Tamworth and also his friendship. It is a very sad time for everyone who knew Brian and I would like to offer my sincere condolences to Brian’s family and friends.”
Cllr Philip Atkins, Leader of Staffordshire County Council, added to the tributes, “I and the rest of the county council are saddened by the news of Brian’s passing; he was a good loyal friend to us and did much good work in his community, which I saw first hand.
“Brian will be sorely missed by his many friends on the county council, as well as colleagues who were at Tamworth Borough Council while he was Mayor of the town. Our thoughts are with his family at this sad time.”
Plans for the funeral are still underway and the flag on Marmion House will be flown at half mast as a mark of respect.
Thursday, December 27th, 2012
Cllr Brian Beale, the Mayor of Tamworth in 2008/09, passed away this week after a courageous battle against cancer.
Cllr Beale, who had been suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma for several months, passed away at his home in the early hours of Boxing Day surrounded by family and friends.
Cllr Brian Beale was first voted onto Tamworth Borough Council in May 2000, when he was elected to represent the Glascote ward. He held the seat until 2002, and was then re-elected onto the Borough Council in 2003 as ward councillor Wilnecote, where he had lived for many years with his wife Val.
In 2008, Brian became the Mayor of Tamworth and in 2009, he was elected onto Staffordshire County Council representing the Stonydelph division. Brian was also the Borough Council’s Cabinet member for Community Safety until 2012 and the current Chairman of the Licensing committee.
Away from politics, Cllr Beale ran a successful engineering company. He is survived by his wife Val and his two children, Clare and Dean.
Thursday, December 27th, 2012
Tamworth Conservative Association lost two good friends this week, former Association President and Deputy Chairman Mrs Marjorie Boosie passed away just before Christmas and former Tamworth Mayor Cllr Brian Beale passed away on Boxing Day.
Mrs Boosie and Cllr Beale were both active members of the Conservative Party for many years and will be missed by all of their friends both in the Party and the community beyond.
Monday, December 24th, 2012
Wednesday, December 19th, 2012
Following today’s announcement of the Government’s 2013/14 grant settlement, Staffordshire Police & Crime Commissioner Matthew Ellis says he’s determined to see crime cut further and spend every public pound better.
Under the settlement outlined by Home Secretary Theresa May, Staffordshire Police will get a grant of £117.4m compared to £121.2m in 2012/13.
Mr Ellis said, “I want us to get full value for the public’s money as we continue to find ways to work more efficiently. I have ambitious plans over the next three years and am determined to deliver them.
“A ‘Team Staffordshire’ approach that identifies opportunities for closer public sector collaboration, to ensure that jobs and prosperity stay in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, is the way forward as we strive to meet our financial obligations.”
Mr Ellis got a first-hand view of policing on a busy Friday night in Stoke-on-Trent city centre last week.
He said, “My time with officers in Hanley confirmed that there are significant numbers of police available to our local communities – and I’m committed to increasing their visibility across the county.”
Mr Ellis recently announced an end to Regulation A19 in Staffordshire, which had required police officers with more than 30 years’ pensionable service to retire. He also unveiled plans to advertise for new police officers for the first time in three years.
“One of my first major decisions as PCC was to put a stop to A19 and being recruiting again to bring fresh dynamism to the force” Mr Ellis said.
“But we still need to do more to make the best use of the available resources because the number of police officers will slowly continue to reduce over time through natural turnover.
“I’m determined to continue to deliver efficient and effective local police services that are visible to local people while, at the same time, resourcing crucial ‘behind the badge’ roles, such as CID, intelligence and forensic examination, to make sure the public are safe.”
Thursday, December 13th, 2012
Tamworth’s MP, Christopher Pincher, has spoken out about the collapse of Drive Assist describing it as a “tragic blow and at the worst possible time for the employers of drive assist.”
Drive Assist were placed into administration late Tuesday evening informing 259 people that they will be made redundant with immediate effect. The credit hire firm lost significant contracts throughout the year resulting in a pre-tax loss of £233.4m.
Mr Pincher said, “The news from Drive Assist is bad for Tamworth and a tragedy for the 259 people that have lost their jobs. There is never a good time to lose your job but job losses just before Christmas create even more heartache and anxiety.
“I am meeting the administrators, Zolfo Cooper, on Friday to discuss people’s concerns with them. My emphasis will be on what they can do to save as many jobs as possible and what they will do to ensure that all staff receive as much information as possible and as much help as possible in finding new work.
“We have had good economic news in our town recently. Unemployment fell to its lowest level since the crash and job vacancies increased. I ran a Jobs Fair last month and over 30 companies, big and small, local and national, came to recruit staff. But the collapse of Drive Assist casts a black cloud over our local economy. Zolfo Cooper, Job Centre Plus, the Council, local employers and I must do all we can to help lift that cloud.
“I will contact the Job Centre to ensure they are ready to deal with new people looking for work and I am happy to put Drive Assist staff in touch with all the companies that attended my Jobs Fair to see if they are able to help.
“In Prime Minister’s Questions, I asked David Cameron to meet with me to discuss employment issues in Tamworth and he has agreed. I will raise with him the specific case of Drive Assist and what he can do to help. Once I have met the administrators and met the Prime Minister I will report back to local people.”
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
A week after announcing free Christmas car parking, Conservative controlled Tamworth Borough Council are giving local traders and shoppers a further boost, with free parking at the Jolly Sailor car park until January 12 2014.
Parking fees at the Jolly Sailor car park have been waived from this Saturday, December 15, up to and including Saturday January 12, in a bid to encourage more people to shop in Tamworth.
The car park is a short walk from both Ventura Park and the town centre and shoppers who park at the Jolly Sailor will be able to avoid traffic congestion in the run-up to Christmas, as well as having easy access to both the town centre and Tamworth Castle.
Residents and visitors are also reminded that parking in all of the town’s council-run car parks will be free all day on the two Saturdays before Christmas, December 15 and 22.
Tamworth Borough Council Deputy Leader, Cllr Rob Pritchard, said, “The Jolly Sailor car park is only a stone’s throw from the town centre and a short walk from Ventura Park. Both areas have such a lot to offer and we want to make it easier for people to visit both without having to drive.
“Tamworth Borough Council remains committed to encouraging and promoting town centre trade. This year we are attempting to extend that period for both visitors to Ventura and the town centre in Jolly Sailor until January 14 2013, in addition to the free parking in all town centre car parks already announced.”
Wednesday, December 12th, 2012
Staffordshire’s Police & Crime Commissioner, Conservative Matthew Ellis, has announced plans to recruit police officers and put an end to A19 redundancies.
Staffordshire Police last advertised for police officers three years ago and the last new recruits to join the force started on the 22 February 2010.
Regulation A19, which requires police officers with more than 30 years pensionable service – to and including the rank of chief superintendent – to retire, has been in place since November last year.
The moves follow discussions with Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, Staffordshire Police Federation – which represents rank and file officers – and Staffordshire residents on the pre-election campaign trail.
Matthew Ellis said, “Staffordshire Police has lost a lot of valuable experience since the A19 policy was introduced and has not been able to bring in new blood for even longer. I’ve got ambitious plans for the next three years so I am determined to keep the best talent within the force.
“This hasn’t been an easy decision but it is the right decision for the police service in Staffordshire so that we can continue to drive down crime. During the next three years, I want people across all of Staffordshire to see the positive difference that the role of Police and Crime Commissioner will make.
“Opportunities for more joint working, efficiencies and collaboration with other agencies in Staffordshire will mean that we will meet our financial obligations in the future whilst crucially ensuring that jobs and prosperity stay, wherever possible, within Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.
“I want policing to be more visible to people across Staffordshire and for our determination to prevent crime and reduce re-offending to have even greater impact”
Monday, December 10th, 2012
Young people in Staffordshire continue to get the head start they need in their careers thanks to Conservative controlled Staffordshire County Council’s highly successful apprenticeship programme.
The programme which has been running since 2009 has currently recruited a total of 396 apprentices working in a wide range of roles including teaching assistants, chefs, catering staff, business administration assistants, ICT technicians, sports coaches, nursery assistant and adult social care.
Staffordshire County Council Deputy Leader, and Cabinet Member for Employment and Skills, Ben Adams said, “It is vitally important that we give young people like Nathan the opportunity to develop their career and In Staffordshire, we continue to invest in providing real opportunities for them.
“We are very proud of our young apprentices and our apprenticeship programme which for the second year running has seen us being ranked as one of the top 100 apprentice employers in the country. Nine out of ten of our apprentices also end up securing paid employment, which is another measure on the quality of the programme.
“By working closely with businesses we are also helping them to realise their wider responsibility to the local economy and to Staffordshire’s future prosperity. Our business support apprenticeship helpline also continues to provide employers across the county with the advice they need to realise the benefits of taking on an apprentice.”
For more information on our apprenticeship scheme, please visit www.staffordshireapprentices.org.uk.
Thursday, December 6th, 2012
“The economic recovery is taking longer because the damage is worse than we feared. But the economy is healing. The last thing we could do is put all this progress at risk and attempt to borrow less by borrowing more. We cannot turn back.”
The Chancellor has today announced critical measures that will be welcomed across Tamworth constituency. The personal allowance will rise further, meaning people will keep more of the money they earn before income tax kicks in. Labour’s planned fuel duty rise has been cancelled. Small businesses rate relief has been extended for another year. We have also seen a range of capital infrastructure projects to boost growth up and down the country.
The measures announced will support the cost of living for households and unlock growth for our businesses and industry.
Mr Pincher commented, “This is fantastic news for Tamworth. The West Midlands will see two million people get an income tax cut with 22,000 lifted out of tax altogether.
“The three and a half million people who drive will welcome the cancellation of a rise in fuel duty that the Labour Government had planned for. Businesses will welcome the drop in corporation tax and the small business rate relief. And the raft of capital infrastructure projects will unlock growth and equip Britain to compete in the global race, including the £10million upgrade to junction 10 at the M42.
“Times are tough. But the economy is undoubtedly healing – and the measures announced today will bring welcome support to families and businesses in our town.”
