On school league tables

Education in the Borough of Southend-on-Sea is not in a good way. We have some excellent schools; we also have had schools in special measures. The story, it seems, is of extremes.

My views on selective education and faith schools are well known. I believe these are ultimately detrimental to the education of our young. I also believe the polarisation evidenced in Southend can be linked to this.

Another factor is league tables, and new ones have been issued this week. Parents will be using these to work out which school to send their children to – a perfectly understandable action. The trouble is, even those schools at the bottom of the pile will still have students. The ‘better’ schools will either have selection as an admission policy, or will indirectly select by wealth as their catchment areas become ‘sought-after’ in property terms.

In other words, money can either buy you the tutoring for your children, or a home in the right area. Either way, it favours those with money.

I think testing and the monitoring of test results is a good thing. One wants to know that one’s school is trying to improve, and certainly not sliding downwards in terms of achievement. What is wrong is that rather than performance being used to encourage the school to do better it is being used as a stick to beat the school and encourage the sharp-elbowed with deep pockets to look elsewhere. The end result is unlikely to see the struggling schools do anything but continue to struggle.

The NASUWT is not impressed by the publication of this data either.

Key for Thorpe

Jonathan Key became the fourteenth candidate selected for Labour in Southend for the May 3rd borough elections. This leaves just Eastwood Park, Prittlewell, and Southchurch without candidates. These three will have candidates within the next few weeks, and I report these when they become known.

The candidates thus far selected are

Belfairs – Ian Pope
Blenheim Park – Tony Borton
Chalkwell – Lars Davidsson
Kursaal – Anne Jones
Leigh – Iain Blake-Lawson
Milton – Julian Ware-Lane
Shoeburyness – Chris Gasper
St.Laurence – Reg Copley
St.Luke’s – Mike Royston
Thorpe – Jonathan Key
Victoria – Ian Gilbert
Westborough – Kevin Robinson
West Leigh – Jane Norman
West Shoebury – Gray Sergeant

It’s the stupid economy

An alien visitor to our planet could be forgiven for being confused. Being told that some people would have to eat less and use less heating because of a recessive economy might raise some questions. The fields growing food are still there, the energy reserves are still there, houses haven’t crumbled – all the physical things that existed prior to our economic woes are still there.

Someone would have to explain to our alien that whilst all the physical things might still be there, we have built up debt. You can then imagine a lesson in money supply would ensue.

We grow enough food to feed everyone, yet people starve. We have a housing shortage whilst at the same time have seen a boom in second home ownership (and many thousands of empty properties). We struggle to justify paying benefits yet expend munitions at a million plus per bomb. It is a startling statistic that we produce more bullets every year than there are people on the planet.

What we have is a failure of accounting, a numbers game crash. And what do we do? We reward those responsible for looking after the numbers despite their failure.

Reg Copley, Labour candidate for St.Laurence ward

There are a few for whom the hackneyed expression “needs no introduction” really is true. In Labour circles in south Essex this is the case with Reg Copley.

Here are some questions from me, and some answers from him:

Ward you are candidate for and the ward you reside in
I am contesting St.Laurence ward, where my family and I have lived for 56 years… yes, we paid-off the mortgage some twenty-five years ago.

Have you stood for election before?
Yes, I have stood as a Labour and Cooperative candidate across Southend more that 25 times, winning seats as a Southend County Borough Councillor, a Borough Councillor, a County Councillor, a District Councillor and as a member of the current Southend Unitary Council. St.Luke’s ward, Southend, lost me as one of their elected Councillors in 2004. I served 40 years as an elected member of Southend Councils. Something no other Councillor achieved. I was also Father of the Council, and Mayor 1995-96.

What are your priorities if elected?
To campaign to convince all electors that they really do have a vital part to play in local democracy, and should get involved in getting things done, in league with their elected Councillors, whatever their politics… although Labour would be the best bet.

Your political hero?
Nye Bevan, of course… I was freshly back from serving with the RAF in World War Two (Far East conflict) when I was in the Strangers Gallery in the Commons to witness Nye Bevan becoming the first Secretary of State for Health for the newly formed Labour National Health Service in 1948… a glorious political experience.

Your political zero?
Anyone who challenges democracy in any way, and who encourages racism, sexism, etc, etc. Can’t abide ‘em!

Tell me something about yourself that is not generally known
Having talked about myself, and what I have tried to do, and encouraged others to do for democratic thought and action, I really cannot think of any item of personal political trumpet-blowing that I haven’t informed others about… not that they take any notice of me anyway.

Council tax comparison for unitary authorities

 

 

		A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
Peterborough	Con	£730.47	£852.22	£973.96	£1095.71	£1339.20	£1582.69	£1826.18	£2191.42
Thurrock	NOC	£867.54	£1012.13	£1156.72	£1301.31	£1590.49	£1879.67	£2168.85	£2602.62
Southend-on-Sea	Con	£877.62	£1023.89	£1170.16	£1316.43	£1608.97	£1901.51	£2194.05	£2632.86
Medway	Con	£883.85	£1031.16	£1178.47	£1325.78	£1620.40	£1915.02	£2209.63	£2651.56
Luton	Lab	£914.06	£1066.41	£1218.75	£1371.10	£1675.79	£1980.48	£2285.16	£2742.20
Milton Keynes	Con	£926.67	£1081.11	£1235.56	£1390.00	£1698.89	£2007.78	£2316.67	£2780.00
Bedford	NOC	£1035.86	£1208.50	£1381.14	£1553.79	£1899.08	£2244.36	£2589.65	£3107.58

Comparing council tax rates across authorities is best described as problematical. With differences in size, responsibilities, facilities offered, and geography it is easy to see why such comparisons have only limited usefulness. Still, I find that people want to know whether they are paying over the odds, and one way to check is by comparison with other areas.

The table above only shows unitary authorities that are reasonably close to Southend-on-Sea. The table is sorted by band D rates, the most often used comparator. Southend-on-Sea comes out as mid-range, neither cheap nor especially dear.

In Southend-on-Sea the council tax works out as anywhere between £73.14 and £219.41 per month. I mention this because in May we have elections and I would wager that nowhere will turnout rise beyond 50%, and in many places will be significantly under 30%. This, of course, takes no account of those who are not registered to vote. You would think that tax-payers would want say in how their hard-earned wages are spent.

Bonchurch by-election announced

Ordinarily a vacancy on Leigh Town Council does not warrant that much attention. I say ordinarily as I have been informally told that a by-election has been triggered by English Democrat and National Front interest.

Anti-fascists in Leigh-on-Sea please be aware – do not allow either of these insidious parties a toe-hold in my corner of Essex.

(BONCHURCH WARD of the) TOWN of LEIGH-ON-SEA NOTICE OF VACANCY IN THE OFFICE OF TOWN COUNCILLOR

Trickle-up economics

There is a good old-fashioned argument to be had over the merits of a redistributive taxation policy versus the trickle-down effect supposedly inherent in free-market capitalism.

A redistributive taxation policy is one where the worst effects of capitalism are ameliorated by a direct taxation system that makes the rich pay more than the poor. This is best evidenced by the tax bands. The further left one goes politically, the harder one wants to squeeze the rich, usually by introducing higher tax rates for high earners.

The trickle-down is an effect that is meant to be generated by the spending power of the rich. Those that support this move towards the idea of more indirect taxation, arguing that tax take increases as a result.

It is an argument about fairness, but not just that. It cuts to the core of how capitalism works, and is used to justify a particular methodology when addressing taxation.

The more you earn, the more you pay is an easy principle to understand. This understands that the rich have an obligation to help support those less well off, and it also acknowledges that an unfettered free-market is unfair. There is a strand of Libertarianism that wants no tax on income, believing that fairness is best served by making taxation liable to choice. This ignores the reality that the poorer you are, the more of your income has to be spent proportionally on life’s essentials – items where choice does not figure (I can choose whether to buy a Picasso, I cannot choose not to eat).

As any scientist will tell you, the best measurement of the efficacy of any system is the outcome it produces. If your aim is towards more equality then what we have today is failing. The gap between rich and poor is growing, and even those one would usually describe as comfortably off are being left behind by the ever more avaricious.

I wonder what the advocates for the trickle-down effect make of all this? For some this is further evidence of the failure of the neocon-liberal consensus. Whatever the causes, today we are seeing a trickle-down engaged in reverse gear. However you look at it, fairness is not being served.

Where is the politics?

Two In Touch leaflets in one day! This one delivered by my councillor (or his team). We now know the identity of the major candidates this May in Blenheim Park ward. Julie Cushion has been selected by the blues, and she will face Tony Borton in the red corner, and Graham Longley from the yellows.

The picture of Julie on this leaflet is awful. Now I realise my eyesight is gradually weakening with my advancing years, but you could not recognise Ms Cushion from this.

I am sure the photos at the top of this leaflet mean something, but this escapes me. I presume they are meant to represent the ward, I recognise none of them. I know James Courtenay occasionally reads this blog; I invite him to let me know what they are about.

One thing is obvious from all the literature about my home ward – its name is clumsy. ‘Blenheim Park’ would be much better shortened to just ‘Blenheim’.

James has promised to keep in regular contact with Blenheim Park’s residents. I had rather hoped that something better than this lightweight affair would been the result. It is mostly filler and offers nothing of James’ views on the big issues. In fact, it is devoid of anything that can be described as political. I am involved in politics for more than just fixing potholes and clearing up litter.

Milton’s In Touch, ignoring the big issues

The Conservatives in Milton have been busy putting out their glossy In Touch leaflet. It is dated ‘January 2012’, which makes me wonder whether they will be attempting to deliver a new version every month.

This leaflet largely celebrates work going on in Milton and Southend, little of which can be attributed to the local Conservatives. Mind you, they like claim the credit for many things that were actually funded by the last Labour Government and the European Union.

Nigel Folkard, the sitting councillor who is seeking re-election on May 3rd, describes himself as “the right choice”. He is certainly the choice on the right, as I am the choice from the centre-left. Whether he is the best choice will be decided by the voters – I guess if you like someone who promises much but delivers little then I guess he is the best choice.

Nigel describes himself as thrilled by the building of the Primary Care Centre in Valkyrie Road, one of the last acts of a PCT that his Government has abolished. I wonder whether he is equally thrilled with the prospect of a privatised NHS which is on the horizon with this dreadful coalition.

I guess it is a matter of taste, but the award winning designs mentioned have come in for some criticism from those I have spoken to. This is especially true for the student accommodation which really does look out of place in a Victorian/Edwardian seaside town. I

This leaflet is most notable for what it doesn’t say. When Labour was in Government I was more than happy to laud all the good work they were doing. This leaflet does not mention the cuts, local or national, or anything that the Government are doing. Strange that.

I noted that the Conservative logo has changed. Gone is the green logo, now replaced with a tree that has the Union Flag emblazoned upon it. Since there is very little that is green about Southend’s Conservatives the change is no surprise.

I saw her standing there

Petrina Davies was seventeen when she agreed to go out with me. I was twenty-two. She was still seventeen when we got engaged, eighteen when we married, nineteen when motherhood arrived. Somehow she is still with me, almost thirty years later.

When teenage mothers are headline making material I like to remind people that the lazy use of statistics ignores the thousands of individual stories, each unique, no two entirely the same.

We began marriage in private rented rooms at the top of 13 Palmeira Avenue (then called ‘Ivanhoe’, now renamed and renumbered as ’14’). Ten months into our marriage we were offered council accommodation. In 1983 these were comparatively plentiful, and our circumstances apparently merited emergency action.

We did not marry to get council accommodation, we were not on benefits, and our son was born some twenty months into our marriage. Not all teenage mums are on the take, or attempting to set up a life of welfare dependency. Some teenage mums plan their pregnancies, and make a good fist of parenthood.

Nadine Dorries sees herself as a defender of moral rectitude. Her latest cause is teenage mums, and the problem as she sees it is that young girls just do not know how to say “no”.

Nadine wanted school girls to be taught the benefits of abstinence. This has stalled, although I do not doubt it will raise its dubious head again at some point.

The problem with Ms Dorries is when she preaches abstinence she does so whilst blindly ignoring her track record as an adulteress. Perhaps she can reconcile the two seemingly disparate points.

Her pronouncements would be laughable but for the influence they have.