Last night was the regular meeting of Bury Council’s Executive Committee. This is the Committee that brings together all the portfolio holders from the ruling (Conservative) group on the Council. Myself, and the Leader of the Labour Group attend as observers.

Equal Pay
The main issue of debate was the current pay regrading that is being undertaken by the Council. A comprehensive pay review has been undertaken for the vast majority of council employees (some staff, such as teachers are excluded from the review). The draft proposals would mean that a large number of staff would see their pay changed - both up and down. Where staff see their pay decreased then their existing pay is protected for up to three years.

Staff and their trades unions are understandably very concerned about the process, in particular for people who are losing a significant amount of money (in some cases thousands of pounds).

I felt very uneasy in the discussion last night, as some councillors from both the other groups seemed intent on making this issue a party political issue. My feeling, and the feeling of the Liberal Democrat Group, is that all Councillors need to treat this issue with the seriousness it deserves, and we will not be using real people’s livelihoods as a “political football”.

My main concerns, which I did raise at the meeting, are that the appeal process that many staff are now going though is a fair and detailed process for everyone. Staff who are concerned that their new pay grade is wrong need to feel confident that there is a fair and thorough appeal process that they can have confidence in. We also want to see measures in place, over the next year and more, to ensure that staff who do lose pay have a number of options for support and looking at their jobs to see if pay can be increased again.

All Councillors have received a large amount of correspondence on this issue, and no doubt it is one that will dominate the Council for a number of months to come.

Joint Area Review Action Plan
The Executive Committee approved an “action plan” for Children’s Services, to implement the findings of the Joint Area Review which was undertook earlier in the year.

6 Town Housing Vision for the Future
The Committee approved a visioning document for 6 Town Housing - the “arms lenght” body who owns and looks after our public sector (”Council”) housing in Bury. I raised a related issue, whether Bury would be responding to the new Government initiative to allow local councils to support people who were facing repossession - a report is to follow.

Planning Guidance - Housing
The Committee approved for consultation a new Supplementary Planning Document. This would mean that Bury would allow for up to 500 houses to be built each year, as opposed to 230 a year now. I asked if this meant an end to the “moratorium” on only building in town centres and regeneration areas - it does, but we were assured that the vast majority of new homes are expected to be in existing urban areas (no change to the “green belt” policy has been made.

Financial issues
A number of reports were received on financial issues including the final figures for last financial year and papers on borrowing and financial procedures. I asked about the underspend last year on street repairs (£160,000) - given that so many streets and pavements are in need of repair - but was assured that this underspend was not on “regular repairs”. Still an issue that needs watching.

Any questions, please ask.
tim

The Local Area Partnerships across Bury, including Prestwich Local Area Partnership, are asking local community groups and voluntary organisations across Bury to submit bids for grants from the LAP fund.

There are a number of grants available and the maximum any one group or organisation can bid for is £3000. The group will be required to complete an application form and provide evidence that the money has been used within six months of the date the grant was awarded.

The funds is split into several programs including: Kickstart grants for new, local groups or activities; Community Development Fund providing one-off grants to support community activities and facilities; Communities for Health Fund, for specific geographic areas across the borough to promote healthier lifestyles; and the Bury Futures Fund for community projects to help residents get employment through work placements, training and volunteering schemes.

For more information about the funding available and to get a copy of the application form please contact the Local Area Partnership Team at Bury Town Hall on 0161 253 6372 or email them at areapartnerships@bury.gov.uk

The Bury Third Sector Development Agency can also provide information about larger grants to help communities and advice on funding applications. For further information please contact 0161 797 1968 or log on to www.b3sda.org.uk