Hamlet Court Road spectacular

The BBC is filming inside and out of the Havens store in Hamlet Court Road on June 4th. This was mentioned at the recent Hamlet Court Road Traders’ Association meeting, where the road closure was noted and a request that other stores could also do something. There is a whole host of things planned and I encourage all who can to pay the area a visit (you might even get on the telly!).

I understand that many of the traders in the road are planning events and this will be used as an opportunity to showcase Westcliff-on-Sea’s high street.

Five Albert Halls (at least)

Annually Southend-on-Sea deals with an average of 20,000 potholes, I am informed. These are either individually filled in, or patched (where there is a grouping of potholes in one area).

This does raise a couple of thoughts in my mind.

I am informed that only category one holes are dealt with at the moment. (Category one holes are those that exceed 40mm in depth.) I have no idea how many categories there are, but if 20,000 is the number in category one one can easily envisage in excess of 100,000 holes of all types across the borough. This suggests that our roads are in a shocking state; in some places that I have seen a comparison with the third world is no exaggeration.

I wonder how effective the repairs are. When we are dealing with this issue year after year one is tempted to question the efficacy of the repairs. Are we opting for the cheap and cheerful solution for a short-term saving? If we are, then those short-term savings are surely costing more in the long run.

What is true is that many roads after repair display a patchwork of grey fixes that to my eyes is most unattractive.

No local authority can avoid potholes appearing, and no councillor (surely) can resist this staple of ward newsletters. What I hope to achieve are cost-effective fixes that also satisfy aesthetic sensibilities, and maintain more than minimum safety standards. I cannot state for certain that fixes are not cost effective, but I am sure that fixes are not attractive, and that public safety is being compromised by the plethora of holes and the selective nature of their repair.

(I guess we still know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.)

A scribbling on the latest polls

The latest opinion poll from Survation shows UKIP in 22%, a mere 2% behind the Tories. Allowing for the standard variation of plus or minus 3% the Tories could even be behind UKIP.

The average of the last week’s polls look better for Mr Cameron, but still show his party at less than 30%.

		Con	Lab	LD	UKIP
Survation	20 May 2013	24	35	11	22
YouGov	19 May 2013	29	40	9	14
ComRes	18 May 2013	29	35	8	19
ICM	18 May 2013	29	32	16	15
Opinium	18 May 2013	27	37	7	20
TNS BMRB	17 May 2013	28	37	7	18
YouGov	17 May 2013	31	39	9	15
Ipsos MORI	15 May 2013	31	34	10	13
YouGov	15 May 2013	30	40	10	15
ICM	13 May 2013	28	34	11	18
averages		29	36	10	16.9

What surprises me is that it has taken three years to get to this point. Austerity and the cuts were never going to be popular, and add in the usual mid-term blues (no pun intended) for any Government then PM could argue that his party’s support is holding up surprisingly well. Except …

A brief flowering of a fourth force in UK politics has happened before, and the aim for Ukippers is to see this maintained through 2015. The SDP and Greens have been in similar situations, the former opted for absorption, the latter remains a voice on the periphery.  If UKIP is merely soaking up chunks of the none-of-the-above vote then I do not see this translating into seats. If it is a harbinger of a genuine split on the Right then we are witnessing a massive sea change in British politics.

Labour will wish for better polling, you always want more, but there is no need for panic. Being ahead and staying ahead, especially after a disastrous General Election in 2010, shows that recovery is well and truly embedded. The Liberal Democrats will take some solace from the fact that they could be doing worse (and have in some by-elections). Whilst their vote is being squeezed hard in some places, where they are engaged in a two-horse contest with the Tories their vote is holding up.

Shoeburyness

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of recent elections in Shoeburyness is the missing Liberal Democrats – they have not put anyone up there since 2010. Whilst they may claim it is a deliberate strategy I am not convinced. It indicates, to my mind anyway, that they are struggling in the east of Southend.

The last decade has seen a decline in Labour support in a ward that was once seen as a target for us. Our vote share has barely moved since the General Election, in contrast to many other places, which suggests that it will take a few years to rebuild our support base.

What is also noticeable is that the backdrop of a national election does damage the Independents chances – 2010 saw a Conservative victory. 2014 will see another national election (those for the European Parliament) and Tory hopes must be that this will be enough to secure victory. There will be UKIP to factor in, if they stand here. Their sole appearance in Shoeburyness was in 2010 where they received 5.2% of the votes cast.

A Tory hold is possible, but likeliest outcome is an Independent gain here in twelve months’ time.

Only one in sixteen pupils who have free school meals will attend one of the town’s grammar schools

Sometimes you ask questions where you can guess the answers; sometimes it is with dread that you even ask.

I have argued, long argued, that the grammar schools system in general, and in particular in Southend-on-Sea, has more to do with money that ability. Unless you believe that the poor are innately less clever, the numbers I have just received confirmed the wealth bias.

One of the measures of poverty is the receipt of free school meals. Whilst not perfect, it is sufficiently good for the numbers to be captured, and for these numbers to help frame policy.

The table below shows the numbers of pupils at each of Southend-on-Sea’s secondary schools, and the numbers of pupils recorded as taking Free School Meals (FSM).

The four grammar schools have just 6.09% of the total number of pupils who have free school meals. 93.91% of free school meals pupils go to the non-grammar schools; only one in sixteen pupils who have free school meals will attend one of the town’s grammar schools.

Numbers of pupils recorded as taking Free School Meal by Secondary School
School Name	Total Pupils	Number of FSM pupils	Proportion receiving FSM
Futures Community College	831	286	34.4%
Chase High School	1138	349	30.7%
Cecil Jones College	1241	293	23.6%
Shoeburyness High School	1775	317	17.9%
The Eastwood Academy	889	104	11.7%
Belfairs High*	1354	141	10.4%
St. Thomas More High School	1023	86	8.4%
St Bernard’s High School	903	74	8.2%
SOUTHEND HIGH SCHOOL FOR BOYS	1079	36	3.3%
SOUTHEND H.S. FOR GIRLS	1150	32	2.8%
Westcliff High School for Girls	1102	27	2.5%
Westcliff High School for Boys	1232	12	1.0%
Grand Total	13717	1757	12.8%
Data as at January 2013
Source School Census
* Belfairs data as at October 2012

I cannot undo the past, but I can help shape the future. Rather than the usual over-complacent acceptance of the status quo I hope that the Conservative portfolio holder responsible for this shambles is mindful of his duty to all residents of the Borough of Southend-on-Sea.

Out with Matt and Carl in Westborough

There were definitely no mad, swivel-eyed loons out in Westborough this morning, either amongst the Labour campaign team or the welcoming residents.

There were many positive conversations, as well as many worried about the state of the local economy.

Help us to stamp out dog fouling!

Where can dog fouling be disposed of?
A number of dog bins are located throughout parks and open spaces in Southend-on-Sea. Where necessary, litter bins can be used, or it can be taken home and disposed of in the refuse sack. So with so many options available there is no excuse when dog fouling is left behind.

Where does the requirement to scoop apply?
The requirement to clear fouling applies to all land open to the air and to which the public have access including:

• Roads
• Pavements
• Footpaths
• Verges
• Walkways
• Passageways
• Parks
• Public gardens
• Recreation grounds
• Sports grounds
• Open amenity areas
• Car parks
• Beaches and promenades

For further information contact the council at:
w: www.southend.gov.uk
t: 01702 215006