3 May - Council meeting - Leader’s report
The written report was 31 pages long and covered…
• Conservative Bexley not being given a share of the £600 million Recovery Grant
despite being in greater need of it than the London Labour boroughs that have
benefited.
• The 800 Bexley Boxes designed to combat the Labour Government’s attack on the elderly.
• Bexley residents being penalized by higher Tunnel Tolls than those living North of the river.
• A welcome for
Tanusha Waters who replaces
Jane Richardson.
• The Care Quality Commission’s upcoming inspection of Adults’ Services.
• The opening of the first Family Hub.
• Improvements in the recycling rate. (Bexley in 3rd place in London.)
• Objections to bus 472 (Abbey Wood to North Greenwich) being replaced by a limited stop Super Loop
S11 over the same route.
…and many other things few of which were discussed at the meeting.
However the Leader added to her written list and singled out former Councillor
Daniel Francis “who in Westminster had applauded a Great Big Public Health
increase for Bexley when in reality the borough got nothing. A percentage of
nothing is nothing and Bexley is still second lowest in London. No Conservative
borough received any part of the £600 million Recovery Grant”.
However Bexley has found money for potholes, playgrounds and upgraded CCTV.
The Leader confirmed that the SL3 Superloop is not going to be delayed by
an
unnecessary diversion into Bexley but there were a few lines in the written report that said
minor changes elsewhere on the route (parking restrictions?)
will attempt to speed it up. Apparently unaware of the geography of
the borough or the raison d’être of Superloops the Baroness said that the Council
had asked for the proposed SL11 to make a massive diversion into Welling. As a
Conservative Councillor said to me a month or so ago, she is losing it.
Councillor Nick O’Hare (Conservative, Blendon & Penhill) mistook the Leader’s Report for Question Time and
asked the Leader to brag about the transformation of Danson Park. £556,000 has been spent on it
in the past year. £220k. on the water facilities, £65k. on toilets, £99k. on
tennis courts, £62k. on the lake and £100k. on upgraded footpaths. Where the
rest of the £556k. went was not revealed but maybe it includes Lesnes Abbey
which is to get another £250,000 in the immediate future.
Councillor Philip Read, Chairman of the Audit Committee) took a similar approach
to Nick and asked the Leader to put a positive spin on the Auditor’s Report. “Bexley has the right processes in place.”
Labour Leader Stefano Borella asked if the Bexley Box scheme will be repeated
this year when the Winter Fuel Allowance is not resurrected. “was it political
posturing?” He went on to say that withdrawing the WFA was a Conservative idea
floated in 2017 but forgot to say that the idea was rejected as being a
thoroughly bad one likely to kill 4,000 people. (Labour’s estimate.) On firmer
ground he said that Bexleyְְ’s adjustments to
the Council Tax Reduction scheme were “a disgrace”.
There was no indication that Bexley Boxes will go out again next Winter.
Stefano said that contrary to Bexley getting left out of various grants, it was
one of only seven London Boroughs to get a share of the Violence Reduction Grant
and listed a number of reasons why Councillor Bishop was wrong about
the Community Centres being in a good state. They are closed, falling down
and in trouble with the heating systems.